IU has personally apologized for the controversies surrounding her latest album 'CHAT-SHIRE'. Her bonus track "23" made headlines for allegedly sampling Britney Spears's voice without permission, and quickly afterwards, IU's lyrics for the song "Zeze" received criticism for its connection to 'lolita' themes.

IU herself wrote a letter of apology. The letter is as follows:

"Hello. This is IU. Though I knew that there were a lot of opinions about my lyrics recently, it took longer than I thought to get the nerve to speak up. I apologize for being late. I sincerely apologize to everyone who was hurt by my lyrics.

This recent album is about what's happened to the 23-year-old IU, and it's filled with songs inspired by characters from novels. 'Zeze' is one of those songs. 'My Sweet Orange Tree' is a really precious novel to me. I didn't write the lyrics with the intention of inferring anything sexual about a 5-year-old child. The Zeze in the lyrics is written in third person using the novel's story as a motive. However, I understand that the people who listen to the song could be angered by my lyrics, and many people were hurt because of it. It's because of my immaturity as a lyricist.

I also know that many people were surprised by what I said in one interview. In that interview I said, 'It's not something the young Zeze is saying, but I felt that Zeze's temper was sexy.' It's not about the 5-year-old child, but the ambiguity of the temper. However, I believe that it's my negligence for using the word 'sexy' in a discussion about a child.

To add, it's my fault that I didn't carefully look into the sources that the producer who arranged the track used for samples in the bonus track. We've currently requested that Britney Spears' side look into it, and following that, we'll go into getting clearance for the sampling. It's the first time I've acted as producer for an album, and I think I was too excited and selfish about wanting to receive praise. Because of this, there's been a lot of mistakes. I apologize once again to those who were hurt by this and those who were disappointed in me. I'll work hard to reflect on myself, and I'll show you a more mature side of myself. I apologize."

What are your thoughts on these controversies?

Source: link