He also shared the real reason behind his departure.
On January 15, KST, T.O.P gave a series of media interviews for the first time in eleven years. He touched upon many topics related to his career, including his departure from BIGBANG.
In his interview with Sports Kyunghang, the former idol was asked why he had lashed out at fans on social media when they associated him with his former group. He responded with a lowered head, “I am someone who caused great harm to both BIGBANG and my former company due to mistakes I made in the past.”
T.O.P explained that he had been wanting to leave the group “for years” to avoid causing any further damage to his members and his former label. He added that he had no plans to return to BIGBANG because he didn’t want his “past mistakes” to affect them again.
Now, I have to move forward on my own, and I believe I must endure the criticism that comes with it. If I were to return to the team that I caused harm to, I would be dragging that label of my past mistakes onto the members, and I wouldn’t be able to face them. The suffering within me is so great that I’ve been saying for a long time that I want to leave.
— T.O.P
Talking about his harsh reaction to fans who tried associating him with BIGBANG on social media after his departure, T.O.P claimed that the expectations for a reunion were too painful for him endure. “I wanted to leave things clear, but I had no avenue to express it,” he added.
When I see messages from fans wanting a reunion and look at the members’ photos, it feels like looking at family photos after being the one who left. No one who isn’t directly involved can understand the pain and suffering. That said, choosing that path was rash. But that wasn’t my intention.
— T.O.P
When asked if his former members tried to stop him from leaving, T.O.P carefully responded saying that he didn’t want to talk about people behind their backs. He did admit that he has been out of touch with all of them out of the guilty feeling in his heart.
I’m not in contact with the members at the moment. I don’t know exactly how long it’s been, but I still feel so sorry that I can’t bring myself to reach out.
— T.O.P
The former BIGBANG member was entangled in a drug scandal in 2017 that took a significant toll on his career and public reputation. You can read about it in detail right here.
