Rumors that Tao is being bullied by his fellow EXO members surfaced after some netizens dug up old photos of him interacting with them, leading to speculations that his injury is not the only reason why he will allegedly leave the band.

Following the reports that Tao, one of the remaining Chinese members of the Korean-Chinese boy group EXO, has agreed to leave the band due to his injuries, fans began speculating that it is not the only reason why his father wants him out of the group.

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Recently, old photos of the 22-year old idol interacting with his band mates surfaced online. Said photos allegedly contained evidence that Tao is being bullied by the other members of the group. It has since become a theory among fans as to why the Chinese member allegedly wanted to leave.

Netizens posted gifs and photos on different social networking platforms as a proof of the other EXO members' alleged bullying.

Some users particularly pointed out Korean member Byun Baekhyun who appeared to be wiping off his hand after touching Tao. Other pointed out that the situations in the photos and gifs were quite 'out of line' to be considered as mere fooling around.

A netizen cited, "Tao looked pissed off in the gifs, and whoever that member is that's starting that stuff doesn't look like he's playing around, he looks like he means it."

Many agreed to the opinions of those who uploaded the photos, citing that Tao did not look like he was having fun and insistently stated that it was a form of bullying.

However, there are also those who defended the other members of EXO, saying that the photos are being taken out of context, insisting that the members were just playing around. Fans of the group then uploaded photos of the members showing affection to Tao to dispel the bullying rumors.

Other supporters expressed their opinions of the photos being edited. One fan wrote that upon seeing the 'preposterous' report, she thought it did not deserve a response, but added, "Soon however we saw it on the main page and people began to believe the maliciously edited images that made Tao look like he was being bullied."

Fans who did not believe the rumor accused those who spread the rumors of not being 'real EXO fans'.

On the other hand, SM Entertainment, Tao and other parties involved in the controversies that surround EXO as of late, have yet to respond.

TagsEXO, Tao, EXO Tao, Huang Zi Tao