Malaysian influencer Cathryn Li (李元玲) became a hot topic after her outburst during a live stream yesterday (9th March). A callous comment about her piano skills by one commenter had her losing her cool.
Today, the Insta-famous 31-year-old took to Facebook to explain and apologise for her reaction. The detailed post explained why Cathryn struggled to perform that day.
To begin with, the invitation was on short notice and she was preoccupied with other matters. Nonetheless, she accepted the invitation. The show was one surprise after the other. First, she only found out it was a live show after arriving at the studio. Secondly, the crew sprung their request for her to play the keyboard on the day of the interview. As such, she had no time to practice which she greatly needed since she is “not familiar with pop songs”.
She stressed that she had refused the request, several times in fact. Aside from not having practiced the song earlier, she also stated that her agent may have charged them for the performance if they had known about it beforehand. Cathryn caved to the request in the end when the crew “forced (her) to accompany them with the pressure of (being) live”. “…they practice the songs they performed so much everyday (that) it seems I am the only one who is embarrassed (as I was) left behind (and) unable to fit into their band,” Cathryn wrote.
She found it unfair that although she cooperated with the performance, she was ‘scolded’ by netizens. “I had to sit down and listen to them perform themselves. I felt very strange in my heart, saying that my personal interview suddenly turned into their concert. I really didn’t care. I was just sitting and watching,” she stated.
As for her reaction afterward, she claimed she was “out of control” and that she “usually (doesn’t) do this”. She stated the outburst was a result of “bullying and guilt” that has accumulated over the years. The public figure added that “the Internet has never judged the whole thing fairly and objectively” and claimed that they use her own unsubstantiated comments against her.
She ended her post with an apology for “being so out of control” because she is “an ordinary human being, with blood and flesh and tears”. Additionally, she stated that there were days where one would have an emotional breakdown but nevertheless, she did apologise for her “emotions getting out of control”. “Wish this world would have a little more love and less negative energy,” she ended.
At 12pm today, 13 hours after her Facebook post, Cathryn posted another apology. This was posted on both Facebook and Instagram. In this post, she once again apologised for losing control and admitted she was in the wrong, claiming she needed to improve her “emotional intelligence“. She regrets not “taking the attack” and her “loss of control“. She also thanked netizens and friends who supported and defended her.
In her recent post, she expressed that she had no interest in learning how to improvise with the keyboard and that she was happy playing solo on the acoustic piano. She also advised netizens to not “impose their interest on others” and to not think that “strong musicians should be able to play all kinds of music“. She believes that all performances require practice and preparation. “After all, what people want to watch is the performance, not the strength of your improvisation,” she stated. She concluded her post by thanking people for their advice and promising to improve herself.
Netziens were overwhelmingly supportive of her struggles. A few even advised her to cut ties with the talk show group as they were obviously trying to embarrass and bring her down.
Others were more realistic with her, explaining that critics would always exist. As one commenter said succinctly, “You be what you are but by exploding (in) anger this way doesn’t solve any (problems)“. Another netizen also commented that “She could have owned up that she is not much of a versatile player“.
Hopefully, Ms. Cathryn Li learns from this experience and grows stronger from it. After all, there are always going to be critics.
