Tao, the lead rapper of EXO-M, who made his solo music debut on July 23 with mini-album, T.A.O, continues to hit headlines because of one controversy after another. The latest buzz is that he was bullied by other EXO members during their group activities.  

The speculation that EXO members had picked on Tao, now called Z. Tao, started when compilations of GIFs surfaced on Weibo, according to Korea Boo. These compilations show Tao, 22, as a victim and other EXO members as bullies. In a series of brief clips, it can be seen that Tao is at the receiving end of some not-so-friendly pushing at live show, on stage, and outside the performance arena.

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The clips have polarized the netizens. Some believe the clips do not tell the complete story, while others have posted comments in support of Tao. One of the netizens provided context to one of the clips, saying that it was Tao who hit Chanyeol first and the latter was retaliating. Korea Boo quoted the netizen as adding, "Please include the full cuts next time. These few images cannot prove him innocent, this is not his only shortcoming."

On the other hand, one of the Tao's supporters says that from the clips it is "quite evident that they [EXO] don't respect him." Also giving an example, a poster commented that "they're used to bullying him," while another poster felt that D.O. thinks "very little of the Chinese members."

These clips have surfaced after speculations started swirling that the lyrics of title track T.A.O is probably hinting at Tao's bad memories as an EXO member. Moreover, Tao is also fuelling these speculations with comments that he suffered a lot in South Korea. Speaking about his time in Korea, he recently said on a Chinese program that he was alone for four years, adding that no one was there to help, and he had to do everything by himself.

Meanwhile, there is no official word on Tao's exit from EXO, although he stopped actively participating with EXO since April. S.M Entertainment has not commented on his solo debut, but they reportedly pulled strings to block his album's music video on Youtube. He was earlier removed from the official EXO-M Facebook page.      

TagsTao, EXO-M, EXO, EXO Bullies Tao, Tao Quits EXO