On July 7, former 2NE1 member Minzy was invited as a guest in "Video Star." She opened up about her personal experiences with malicious comments and her career.
The hosts first questioned Minzy if she really did audition for both SM Entertainment and YG Entertainment, to which she answered, "I was first discovered when I won a dance contest. After that, YG invited me to an audition. While I was waiting for my schedule, SM reached out to me as well. In fact, I auditioned with SM Entertainment first."
After sharing that, one of the hosts, Sandara Park, was shocked by the revelation. Sandara and Minzy worked together as members of the popular Korean girl group 2NE1 before. Minzy was then asked about her early days with YG, "Did your senior artists looked after you?" "I was young then, but G-Dragon and Taeyang always made sure I was okay. They even invited Sandara and me to visit a theme park somewhere in Jamsil. As everyone also knew that it was my first time in Seoul, they toured me around the city." "They also bought us food!" Sandara happily added.
Minzy also opened up about receiving malicious comments throughout the years. Teary-eyed, Minzy shared, "People always said I was ugly, so it was one of the comments that hurt me. Some would even say things like, 'how are you a singer? Look at that face,' and I would answer silently, 'why can't I?' I thought that you just had to have a beautiful voice to be a singer. Those comments have gotten the best of me. I would often stare at the mirror and ask myself, 'am I really that ugly?' I was sensitive back then, maybe because I was young too."
After that, Minzy shared what happened with 2NE1 and how she was hated for leaving the group. "I had to leave; we were on hiatus for such a long time. If I'd be honest, we had only released two full albums during the entire time I was with 2NE1."
Kim Sook, one of the hosts, was surprised! She didn't expect that since 2NE1 had released a lot of hit songs. Sandara Park then explained, "We only had two. It's just that there were a lot of songs from our albums that did well."
"The long break took a toll on me. I always felt bad. Later on, I developed anxiety and depression. It's like I was drowning, and I had to save myself, that's why I needed to leave. But after I left, it only got worse. People started to call me a traitor. Rumors and false reports started showing up, and I didn't know how to handle everything. I decided to stop going online and reading newspapers, and I just stopped reading the comments altogether. I was only 22 then, but I was already devastated."
Minzy then looked at Sandara and said, "When I was still with the group, I'd always look up to Dara. As a groupmate and friend, I saw how she tackled everyday problems and took on new challenges without being affected. I admired her since then." After she said these words, Sandara Park started to cry. "You gave me a lot of strength, especially during 2NE1's hiatus," Minzy continued. If you didn't know yet, the group took a break for three years, wherein they stopped all their activities and promotions.
Sandara Park's fellow hosts then said, "Dara never really talks a lot, but when she knew you would be our guest, she was excited but also expressed her worries about you like you're her real sister."
"That's who Dara is. She always takes care and looks after us. She was also young but very mature and responsible," Minzy replied.
"It's just now that I get to express myself a lot. Before, I wasn't comfortable showing affection and displaying my emotions. Now, I already send hearts on text messages. I also feel a little sad because when we were working together and promoting our albums, I feel like I couldn't protect you and take good care of our youngest member. I'm sorry, Minzy. I couldn't imagine what you must've endured at such a young age. I'm sorry," Dara shared.
After the show aired, people expressed their frustrations over YG and how badly they handle their artists on social media. Some tweeted that YGE mistreated 2NE1 by calling its members ugly and giving their songs away to Blackpink.
Meanwhile, you can catch "Video Star" on MBC every Tuesdays at 8:30 PM KST!
