Girls’ Generation‘s Tiffany has recently been involved in Korea’s #DebtToo movement after an online community user accused her father of scam.

The user gave a detailed account of the story behind Tiffany’s father and the fraud he committed in the Philippines. After deceiving the user into giving him 35 million won in investments, Tiffany’s father had allegedly mentioned his connections with the Korean gangsters and even threatened him with a gun. In the end, the user gave up on getting his money back.

While some netizens doubted the validity of the claims, Tiffany’s response to the news may indicate otherwise. In her statement, Tiffany began by apologizing for causing trouble.

“Yesterday, I read the post written by the person who was hurt by my father in the past through the news. I felt terrible and apologetic, so I decided to deliver a statement to everyone.” ㅡ Tiffany

Tiffany confessed that she had endured many hardships because of her father during her childhood and that she was threatened by numerous people due issues related to her father’s debt.

“Actually, I experienced a difficult childhood due to my father’s various problems. Even after my debut, I was threatened by people who knew my father for his various debts, which I was not aware of. Moreover, I was pressured by my father himself into paying off his debt.” ㅡ Tiffany

She continued to explain that she had even paid off some of her father’s debt but eventually could not handle it anymore and decided to part ways with her father. She also revealed that it had been 7 years since she last contacted her father.

“Because I thought it had to do with family matters, I took the financial responsibility multiple times. Therefore, I was always afraid that I would cause harm to my dear members and the people around me. Because I could no longer handle the issues, I broke ties with my father and we decided to live our own lives. It has been 7 years since I’ve been in contact with him.” ㅡ Tiffany

Finally, she made an apology to everyone for causing the controversy.

“It was not an easy decision to talk about my family matters through such unpleasant news but I decided to write due to my apologetic mind towards those who were harmed by my father and situations related to me. Once again, I sincerely apologize for this controversy.” ㅡ Tiffany