Huang Zitao reveals his thoughts on leaving SM, former EXO-members and more in interview

[ladyvader-dd.livejournal.com]

Huang Zitao responds to criticism towards him for his actions both before and leaving EXO. He also talks about his feelings towards leaving EXO, his treatment by SM and his regrets for his criticism towards Wu Yifan after he left EXO.

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If anyone's interested, more pictures can be found in original source. Also, the interview is basically a transcript of the video accompanying.

Original Source (Sina Entertainment), jointly translated by @jinnverse, @thosewhoknew and myself from yifanfengshun, a kris-subbing team. Twitter source.

Comments

[seroquels.livejournal.com]

Thanks for posting OP! Was wondering when this would show up here. It was all over my tl, but I'm at work so I couldn't go searching for trans.

Will read through later...but I will say the 1st few paragraphs are a bit hmmm...the way it's worded sounds like the author is confirming the nasty things knetz have said about Chinese idols (just going to SK to gain popularity until they can leave and make it big in China). Don't know if that's what he's getting at, but it seems worded that way to me.

[belintuchiha.livejournal.com]

When you read the whole thing, you'll notice how aggressive sina was coming with 'em questions.

[torontok.livejournal.com]

This entire interview made me so uncomfotable, the tone and everything.Sina is sketchy as fuck, they mysteriously get an exclusive interview days after slandering him, hmm, I wonder how.

I think he has matured a lot in the past few years and I'm glad he apologized.I need Kris to kiss and make up with him so we can have a Traitorous Trinity group, please/

Not one bit surprised at his description of SM making him work while injured. Yet he's still grateful and acknowledges they helped him get to where he is. And no shade on EXO either.

[anathema-switch.livejournal.com]

What did Sina do a few days ago?

[velveteenkitten.livejournal.com]

There has been so much wank over this interview everywhere today, like damn!
I'm exhausted and I didn't even contribute.

Meh, it is what it is. Some folk will never be satisfied no matter what he does. Other folk will defend him no matter what he does. And the rest enjoy the drama.

I think it showed maturity on his part to apologize for his actions in regards to Kris/Wu Yifan. Whether or not the latter wants to forgive is none of my business really.

/shrug

[bloodtaki2.livejournal.com]

I remember wondering why SMe didn't take Tao's phone away when the whole Kris ordeal happened. But it makes sense that they not only let him post his betrayal rant but encouraged him to, despite everybody else saying not to. A lot of people turned against Kris when he left because of Tao's "tearful" message. SMe and their manipulative ways.

Sina is so blatantly trying to drag him, he shouldn't have accepted this interview.

[seroquels.livejournal.com]

This, I'm just getting to that part, and I'm like "SM manager would tell him to.." wankers!

[jrt131n.livejournal.com]

But this was a said read. I've been there when you are just so mad at a person that you are ready to just let them have it just so you can hurt them back. Its a shitty thing to do, but people deal with situation differently. The important thing is to grow from it and at least Tao realizes that he acted out of turn, some may think he overreacted, but its clear that Kris was someone he looked up too and he felt like he was abandoned. Hopefully Tao and Kris get a chance to just have a sit down with some beers and just hash it out.

[yuzuruhanyu.livejournal.com]

finally

#RISETaoris #TaohunWho #NoNewFriends #ThatsMyTeam

[bunica1990.livejournal.com]

#LetsRollUp

[hyungmoney.livejournal.com]

whoa, this interviewer was really trying to get some dirt lmao. anyways i'm happy he wants kris to forgive him, maybe now people can stop calling him a hypocrite. he seemed scarily honest in this interview, i hope nothing he's revealed comes back to bite in the ass.

[bauci.livejournal.com]

This was such an uncomfortable read and not because of what Tao said but because of how Sina seemed to be trying to come at him. I wish all the topics could have been addressed in a different way.
Also KK made me side-eye them pretty bad. Why cant't all the fans of the traitor trio get along and hate on SM instead?

[ladyvader-dd.livejournal.com]

Yea translating this was such a pain lmao cos I didn't know if putting this out would help or hurt tao... Then again, haters gonna hate so might as well put out the full thing for the the more neutral fans to read hahaha

[ohmontauk.livejournal.com]

exo ls were demanding for him to apologize to kris and now that he did they're complaining

dude can never win

anyway, it's kris' decision at the end of the day. glad tao took the steps to reach out and apologize though

[bauci.livejournal.com]

The crystalball will reveal the answer to that~

[ari-meh.livejournal.com]

it's a sign from god that kris' advertisement started playing on iqiyi when i opened this post!

tao... still needs to grow up a bit. sina is asshole-y as usual.

[wishesgranted.livejournal.com]

It's good he apologized. I still feel bad for him because no matter what he says or does he gets a ton of hate. Like nobody wants to understand he probably posted that "betrayal message" in the midst of feeling angry and hurt when we've probably all done and said stuff we regret in the heat of the moment, we just didn't have the whole world weighing in. Ah, IDK. I just feel for the kid.

I also hope that hearing him apologize is helpful to Kris, whether he is able to accept it and forgive or not.

[tree-star123.livejournal.com]

glad he took the opportunity to spill what happened behind the scenes. He was really impulsive but at least he admits what he did. & clearly SM wanted to him to do what he did. I'm sure Kris would forgive him.

[missingmisnomer.livejournal.com]

This interview was a set up but a fascinating read.

[bunica1990.livejournal.com]

mte

[gathyou.livejournal.com]

I was a bit uncomfortable, the way it was phrased in the beginning... Like Tao was really pushed to his boundaries... idk
At least he's able to explain his feelings... I wish him well. I hope it will get better with Yifan, if Yifan wants to. It's sad that it ended this way.
That was so manipulative on SM's side to let Tao say whatever he felt... Tao should have listened to his friends more.

[racquelle2005.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I do feel a bit bad for Tao. It wasn't until he was put into a similar situation that he realized just why Kris decided to do what he did and so he probably does regret what he posted..

Speaking of Kris, I am so sick of exo-l's dragging him for leaving. Even after 2 other members leave for the same thing, he's still shit talked for not being like Luhan and "letting the other members know" . After the way they dragged Kris, I can kind of see why he didn't

[bunica1990.livejournal.com]

Finally! I was wondering when the post would pop up here.

I'm curious to see what the c-public thinks of this issue and whether Kris should acknowledge his apology or not. And yeah I'm also curious to see if Kris will say something public bc you could argue he's being put in a tight spot rn.

Also SM remains messy. Those managers freak me out. They have too much power.

[spidi12345.livejournal.com]

seems like they're not too happy about tao making it public and how he put kris on the spot. you can read the best comments from sina weibo here- yffawn.tumblr.com/post/126347468007/re-tao-apologizing-to-kris

[confuqued.livejournal.com]

I hope Kris forgives him.

[bunica1990.livejournal.com]

I think he might.

[rm-casablancas.livejournal.com]

I only wish him to be happy and success in life, and I'm absolutely sure Kris will forgive him.

[madielou.livejournal.com]

the interviewer seems really sketchy to me, like they were trying to bring out the negative.

the amount of hate i saw for him on nb is extremely over the top. it's like they don't believe a person can grow and mature.

he was rlly messy with the kris ordeal but knowing that sm kinda pushed him to post the message makes me see them as being manipulative as hell, like they knew what was going to happen. by posting it this gives kris the sense of betraying everyone, and if tao tried to leave he'd be seen as a hypocrite and hated by fans as well. they have all their bases covered damn.

idk i just have a soft spot for tao (and all the chinese members) like he obviously cannot hide his emotions and feels them 1000%

[staaan.livejournal.com]

idk i thought the questions were phrased in a provocative manner for a reason?? like he's basically responding to the accusations ppl have thrown at him

[dreamer-easy.livejournal.com]

I think Tao's emotions and statements are genuine - but this is also solid PR. So it's not impossible they agreed with the interviewers to go right to the heart of things. I read that, in Korea, an abject apology means a lot; I wonder if the same is true for China.

[ladyvader-dd.livejournal.com]

Lol no I'm not looking forward to it xP The other translators and I took effort to translate the entire interview (not just snippets) , and made the post in a neutral way as far as possible to try and prevent conflict btw the fans actually and present things as close to the original interview as possible.

[bebetama.livejournal.com]

I'm so pissed at Sina for what they did in this interview. How unprofessional they were, look at that introduction of him, also how they laid out those rumors as if they were facts. And those questions they asked...they were nothing but accusing.

Talking about a gif out of context, a Facebook pic, a curse, him obviously joking about asking fandom to get their clothes off during TLP ??? Seriously. Also don't like the fact that fandom made this interview about Kris when he was just a part of it. He talked about so many different things, at least we got to hear everything he wanted to share.

(Crying) "I really don't know why I have to bear this much" This is his breaking point and I feel so bad for him. Almost everything he is bashed for is taken out of context and it must be really hurting him.

I like that he's pointing out that while SM helped him getting to his dream, there are also not perfect "But there is no company, no person that is perfect". And he proved it with the confirmation of his awful work conditions and the lack of indivual career plans. "As long as the group is successful, it doesn't matter what you like (as an individual). For the sake of this group you sacrifice everything, sacrifice your youth, and in the end the group as a whole shot to stardom, but the individual doesn't really gain anything"

It's cute how he lights up when talking about music and his family. I'm glad he left though, even after all this hatred he has gotten. Like I often say, Tao was never cut to be an idol because he can't be put in a box: he's way too outspoken. I'm glad he's away frome SM, safe and can be himself. He's doing what he likes on his own terms at his own pace. He will learn from this and get back on his feet as he always does.

[slowitdownbaby.livejournal.com]

I watched the interview last night and idk...I couldn't understand what they were saying but the tone of it and seeing Tao break down made me really uncomfortable.
Tao is known for being a little emotional and impulsive so I hope Sina wasn't being shady and took advantage of that.

[kwikimart.livejournal.com]

Yaaasss! Been waiting on this post!
I stan him, I love that he faked breaking his leg (ok idk if this is true or not, I just read that he did), I love when he cries (so..all the time it seems), his NO NEW FRIENDS stance, he gives me life, idc, I hope he never leaves the spotlight, he is a blessing.

On a serious note, this interview was messy! I do feel sorry for him, SM seem incredibly shitty not just towards former acts but their current ones. It is unacceptable that he was treated the way he was and I can understand him pulling off messy things to try and deal with it. I'm glad he's said sorry to his former bandmate, I hope that he maintains contact with the rest somehow, coz it seems sad that has to be over.

Anyway, I hope Tao has a successful career, he does seem like a genuine person behind all the drama.

[kwikimart.livejournal.com]

Omg, I even like T.A.O now, it works better without the weird video tbh

[ohlookshiny.livejournal.com]

doesn't surprise me at all that sm encouraged him to post that stuff about kris. i'm glad that he wants to make up with kris and regrets what he said bc i still think it was immature/unnecessary thing to do. it only stirred up shit more at the time (which was obviously sm's intention). i wish him the best!!!

i honestly don't know how he endured all the shit sm forced him to do... i seriously think you have to be so (mentally) strong to be an idol. idek how they cope.