That's always been their MO to get the public to their side while burying their own trash. When JYJ sued them over the unfair contracts, they even had Yunho and Changmin's parents releasing statements about how disloyal and ungrateful JYJ were and that they (the parents) believed SM and were on their side.
When Tao left, SM were releasing articles about how Tao was lazy and faking injury. Tao didn't have a good image in Korea and China (also due to China embracing Kris back then and Tao said things against Kris so China really hated Tao), so it was easy to smear Tao's image even more. SM's media play was very effective in influencing the public into seeing those who went against them as the enemy. The only one they couldn't touch was Luhan because his family is very wealthy and well-connected in China.
SM always plays dirty.
ETA: it's a comment on reddit
https://www.reddit.com/r/kpopt…/13x3vb5/comment/jmfnrc8/