On November 6th KST, IU broke her silence with a response to the recent controversy regarding her alleged sexualization of the character Zezé in her recent song “Zezé.”

IU’s recent album CHAT-SHIRE was met with excitement and praise initially. However, during the following days, controversy arose that the entire album was pedophiliac in nature. The biggest problem, netizens stated, was the sexualization of the character Zezé from the novel <My Sweet Orange Tree>.

Earlier today, IU made her response to the public and the entire translation of her response can be found below. The response also deals with the recent accusation of wrongly using samples in her song “Twenty Three.”

Hello. This is IU.

I was aware that there is a controversy surrounding my lyrics but it took me a long time to work up the courage to make my response. I am sorry that I am late in this.

First, I would like to apologize with the deepest sincerity to those that I hurt through my lyrics .

My Sweet Orange Tree is a very precious novel to me and I swear that I had no intention to portray a 5 year old child as a symbol of sexuality. The ‘Zezé’ in my lyrics is a completely different character that is only based on the content of the novel. However, I realized from the responses to my music that my lyrics could be offensive to some, and I also realize that I have hurt many people. This is all due to the fact that I was not adapt as a lyricist.

I realize that what I have said in an interview came as a shock to many. During the interview, I intended to say that Zezé’s core qualities, not young Zezé, is sexy. I was talking about the quality of his duality, not the 5 year old child himself. However, I understand and admit my fault in using the word ‘sexy’ when talking about a 5 year old child.

Also, as a producer of the bonus track ‘Twenty Three,’ I am to blame in not carefully checking the sample sources in mixing the song. Currently, we have requested that Britney Spears’s side confirm this track and plan to take action to clear the use of this sample.

I was very excited in producing my first album and I became greedy with the desire to be complimented. This gave rise to many mistakes and I would like to bow my head and apologize to those who I disappointed and hurt through this.

I will reflect on my faults and work harder to show you a more mature IU. I am sorry.

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