It left a permanent scar on him.
Tablo, the Korean hip-hop veteran from Epik High, recently opened up about his traumatic experience of being betrayed by his industry friends during a major scandal.
In 2010, Tablo was targeted by anti-fans who accused him of faking his degree from Stanford University. The allegations blew into a major scandal, which is referred to as the “TaJinYo” controversy. Despite the university formally acknowledging that Tablo did graduate from the institution, the scandal took a major toll on his career and mental health.
In a recent YouTube video posted on Epik High’s channel, Tablo talked about experiencing betrayal from friends in his younger days. The rapper made a startling revelation, saying that even his fellow celebrities were involved in spreading rumors about him during the TaJinYo scandal.
“You might not know this,” he recalled, “but during the TaJinYo incident, when the people involved were exposed, some of them were people I thought were my friends.” He added that he chose not to expose them publicly, but there were celebrity friends who also participated in the unfair witch hunt.
Despite choosing to deal with them leniently, Tablo admitted that it was not easy to let them off the hook. “Seeing those people still being loved by the public is frustrating,” he confessed. However, he chose the high road because he didn’t want to become like those people.
In the video, fellow Epik High member Tukutz tried to convince Tablo to reveal those celebrities’ initials, but he refused, only responding, “You know who it is.” Tukutz then expressed his rage while cursing at those people.
When the TaJinYo scandal got out of hand, Tablo fought back legally, and some of the instigators were later sentenced to prison. However, the emotional scars from that tumultuous period remained with the rapper. In a previous interview, he had opened up about the extent of damage it had done to his mental health. You can read about it here:
Epik High’s Tablo Gets Real About The Trauma He Still Faces Over A Decade After Being Accused Of Faking His Stanford Degree
