Produce 48 and Produce X 101, some of the biggest musical group audition shows in South Korea, was recently revealed to have manipulated the fan-voted results of the groups IZ*ONE and X1 by completely disregarding the final results and planning the final lineup. These groups, highly popular in Korea and internationally, have been restricted from awards shows and television appearances and music “comebacks” (new music) by MNET Media Company due to the police investigation into Produce X 101. Though, the members themselves were not involved in the actual manipulation.
On Nov 5, 2019, show producers Ahn Joon-young and Kim Yong-bum were arrested by the Seoul Metropolitan Police on suspicion of manipulating votes for both the Produce 48 and Produce X 101 audition series.
On Nov 7, 2019, the police released the final, correct rankings of the top 20 trainees in both the shows. And by Nov 12, ten people connected to the case had been arrested.
Six other agency representatives, including Kim Shi-dae from Starship Entertainment, a former Woollim Entertainment employee, a former 8D Entertainment employee and an Around Us Entertainment employee were indicted on charges on fraud, obstruction of business and bribery.
“so y’all telling me, they're disbanding. yohan quit his whole 13 years of his taekwondo career, wooseok and seungwoo stepped out of their pride and become a trainee again to save their groups. all of hangyul and dohyon's hard work to save mbk, seungyoun just wanting a#WeTrustX1 pic.twitter.com/V10p2rvkcR
— Prince Lord Mendoza (@PrinceLordMend2) January 6, 2020
For now, the musical groups formed through the Produce 101 series have been ridiculed by the public for the results of the investigation. Regardless, much of IZ*ONE and X1’s fanbase are still standing up for the groups online and boycotting Korean award shows and events from which they were restricted. Many hashtags have been created, such as #x1_new_beginning, #FightforX1 and #WeTrust X1 to show support for the 11-member boy group, and #WalkWithIZONE to show support for the 12-member girl group.
The MNET company, who owns the Produce X 101 and Produce 48 series, have announced they will suspend audition and voting programs following this incident, which will be helpful in hopefully regaining their reputation.
As of now, the trials in court will be privatized in order to retain the musical group members’ reputations. IZ*ONE and X1 are currently on hiatus, and unable to attend events or award shows without criticism from the public.
their group was gonna last 5 years… X1's future looked so bright with their amazing digitals and physicals right from their debut. Ahn Joon Young really ruined things for everybody. It's beyond infuriating. https://t.co/S6bQhriRk3
— kwon eunbi stan (@uItyenas) January 6, 2020
As of January 6, 2019, it has been confirmed that X1 will disband as a group. After only 5-months of their 5 year contract, all activities have ended. IZ*ONE, however, will remain active for the rest of their contract, beginning to work on their next comeback.
one of the produce groups that were targetted, robbed, mistreated the most. you told them to fly high but instead cut off their wings before they even learned how to fly https://t.co/GQ5YRjwuRm
— 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐢 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐱𝟏 (@snoopywooshin) January 6, 2020
