Article: "One member was changed out"...prosecutors reveal that PD 101's first season with IOI was rigged
Source: X Sports News
The prosecution has revealed that Mnet production crew also rigged the first season of 'Produce 101'.
According to one media outlet on the 13th, the prosecution had reportedly found evidence of additional ranking manipulations on the first season of 'Produce 101'.
According to the written indictment that the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office submitted to the National Assembly on the 3rd, the prosecution charged PD Ahn and CP Kim Yong Bum with conspiring to interfere in the business of selecting, training, and debuting CJ ENM’s idol groups. This was phrased in a way that suggested that PD Ahn and CP Kim were acting on their own and that CJ ENM was the victim. However, the media outlet reported that another production staff member changed the rankings of I.O.I members, suggesting that this is not a problem of individual staff members but a structural problem at CJ ENM.
According to the written indictment, PD Ahn came up with a shortlist of trainees in February 2016, during the first season of “Produce 101,” and manipulated the voting results to remove two trainees who had ranked within the Top 61 and to replace them with two trainees who had been outside the Top 61. He gave the manipulated results to the broadcaster, who did not know about the voting results. This is the only thing Ahn has been accused of with regards to Season 1.
But Media Today obtained a copy of the prosecution’s explanatory statement for non indictment, in which prosecutors stated that the “Produce 101” production staff manipulated votes for the live broadcast of the Season 1 finale in April 2016. This included both online votes cast before the finale and text votes sent during the finale. They changed the votes and manipulated the rankings so that one trainee who had ranked in the Top 11 (“A”) was removed and one trainee who had not ranked in the Top 11 (“B”) was brought in. This was not included in the written indictment that prosecutors sent to the National Assembly.
In the explanatory statement for non indictment, the prosecution said, “The defendant [Ahn] was the main producing director for “Produce 101″ Season 1. He admits that during the finale, where the final members to debut were chosen, the voting results were manipulated so that the rankings of ‘A’ and ‘B’ were switched and ‘B’ was able to debut with I.O.I. However, the defendant says that he was busy editing footage during the live broadcast and taking care of transmission business and was not involved in the process of tallying up votes. He strongly denies having manipulated the votes for the final rankings. At the time, ‘Produce 101’ Season 1 was being managed by former CJ ENM chief producer ‘Han’ and main writer ‘Park.’ The defendant claims that they were the ones to manipulate the votes during the finale and that he was not involved in the business, and we accord with his statement of the situation.” This is why Ahn was not charged with manipulating the final rankings of Season 1 in his official indictment.
A source from the truth commission on the “Produce 101” Season 1 case stated through a legal representative, “Some of the charges were recommended for non indictment, so we checked the explanatory statement for non indictment and found that one member of the final 11 in Season 1 had their rankings changed. Seeing as manipulation took place as early as Season 1, it seems that they had no interest in doing the show properly from the very beginning. We asked the prosecution about investigations into the CP of Season 1, but they did not respond.”
A source from the truth commission on the “Produce 101” Seasons 2-4 case stated, “PD Han was the main producer of Season 1 and bears no small amount of responsibility for this case. He needs to be thoroughly investigated so he can take responsibility. In this situation, we are failing to see the serious responsibility and compensation that CJ ENM promised they would take. CJ ENM needs to take responsibility soon.”
In response, an official from Mnet told Xsports news, "We don't know the contents of PD Ahn's indictment nor do we have a position to give regarding CP Han."
- [+2,235, -359] I think it was probably supposed to be 'Han XX' but she got swapped for 'Yoo XX'
- [+732, -132] I think I know who this one member is ㅋㅋ
- [+673, -112] I think we're all thinking of the same person ㅋㅋㅋ
- [+636, -113] Isn't it that one member that got all the camera time? It was obvious they made up a storyline for her so that she could get in the rankings...
- [+627, -155] Yoo?
- [+369, -49] Which season wasn't rigged at this point. But all I see is a witch hunt in the comment section trying to figure out the member that rigged. No one is interested in the corrupt PD or CP ㅋㅋ
- [+373, -115] Please stop the witch hunt..even if one person was swapped it's not like she's the one that rigged the whole thing. Why is she getting blamed for the CP's rigging? Is it fair to attack her like that? What if your guesses are wrong? Please reserve your criticism until the real name is revealed. None of this is the member's fault, it's the adults that did the rigging.
- [+319, -72] The serial killers are on the move right now in the comment section ㄷㄷㄷ
- [+233, -22] Wow the comments are scary 닼 ㅋ ㅋㅋㅋ The PD's are the ones that should be getting the hate but instead its the idols that are the target. We still don't know whether the idols were involved in the rigging and police have already said the trainees are victims so why are they the ones getting sworn at? Why not the perpetrators that did the rigging?
- [+319, -125] Yoo Yeonjung is a terrible person~
- [+167, -12] Yoo Yeonjung makes me sick. Just delay the reunion ㅋㅋㅋ
- [+132, -6] But are you sure it's her? If it's not I feel sorry for her.
- [+132, -21] Look at all these serial killers in the comments. Do you think it's right what you're doing? These are the same people that killed Sulli.
- [+131, -45] Is she that great a singer though?
- [+49, -12] Well if you look at skills alone...they did well ㅋ
