The South Korean television channel Mnet has been accused of electoral fraud in several of its reality competition series. Among them are the Produce 101 series and Idol School, which were intended to create K-pop groups with members selected by audience vote.
In July 2019, during the final episode of the Produce 101 series' fourth season, Produce X 101, several viewers suspected that the total votes were manipulated after noticing numerical patterns. On August 1, 2019, 272 viewers filed a lawsuit against Mnet, as their on-site text voting service charged per vote, prompting an investigation led by the Seoul Metropolitan Police.
Ahn Joon-young and Kim Yong-bum, producers for the Produce 101 series, were arrested on November 5, 2019. Ahn later admitted to manipulating the rankings to all four seasons of the Produce 101 series. On December 3, 2019, Ahn, Kim, and six other entertainment agency representatives were indicted for charges including obstruction of business, fraud, and bribery. A court trial began on December 20, 2019.
The investigation has affected promotions for the groups produced by Mnet's franchises, with X1 later being disbanded by the agencies and Iz*One going on hiatus, as well as public perception of Mnet's ongoing competition reality series.
Background
In 2009, South Korean cable television channel Mnet produced their first reality competition series, Superstar K, which immediately became popular, creating a boom of audition program franchises. In 2016, they launched Produce 101, aiming to create a short-term K-pop project group of 101 contestants with all 11 members selected by audience vote. The group formed from that show, I.O.I, was successful throughout their one-year contract, and due to their popularity, Mnet subsequently continued the series, creating its own franchise. The next two seasons, Produce 101 Season 2 and Produce 48 (a collaboration with the AKB48 Group), formed Wanna One and Iz*One respectively, with both groups finding individual success in the music market. The fourth season, Produce X 101, which was broadcast in 2019, created the group X1. In addition to the Produce 101 series, Mnet launched Idol School in 2017 with a similar premise, which created the girl group Fromis 9.
Investigation Incident and lawsuit
During the live broadcast of the final episode of Produce X 101 on July 19, 2019, several viewers suspected that Mnet had tampered with the total votes after noticing irregular patterns in the voting numbers. First, viewers noticed that when they compiled a list of the differences in the number of votes between each rank, a lot of them were the same. In particular, a difference of exactly votes was observed five times. Furthermore, a difference of either or votes was observed six times. Viewers also realized that when the average individual vote count and divided that by 100, they got . They then realized that each of the top 20 individuals vote counts were a multiple of . Furthermore, viewers realized that by multiplying by , they got the total number of votes. Some viewers then tried using the same formula on the individual vote counts of the final 20 Produce 48 members. This time, viewers realized that each of the top 20 individuals vote count were a multiple of . In addition, they were able to get the total number of votes after multiplying by , rather than by . In response to the allegations, Mnet admitted that there were errors in calculation, but also maintained that the final rankings were correct and that there was no intention of changing X1's member line-up. Fourteen representatives from the entertainment agencies of the 20 finalists held a meeting on July 29, 2019, and agreed to support Produce X 101'''s outcome and X1's debut. On August 1, 2019, 272 viewers filed a lawsuit against Mnet for electoral fraud, as their on-site text voting service charged per vote.
First police raids and witness allegations
On August 20, 2019, a search warrant was issued on CJ E&M offices and a text voting company by the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. During their first search, the police uncovered voice recordings of the staff members discussing vote manipulation on the previous seasons of the show, resulting in them extending their investigation to all four seasons of the Produce 101 series, Idol School, Show Me the Money, and Superstar K.
Produce X 101
On October 1, 2019, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency confirmed that votes from eliminated trainees were added to the total votes of the members who debuted in X1, a process that affected 2-3 trainees who were originally in the top 11. The police issued a search and seizure warrant on the offices of Starship Entertainment, Woollim Entertainment, and MBK Entertainment. The police also investigated several agencies involved in Produce 48. Reportedly, per contract signed with CJ E&M, the entertainment agencies were paid for every episode their talent appeared in. An anonymous trainee alleged only was given to their talent agencies for participating in a song, while each participant would only get a small percentage, and CJ E&M would keep additional profits if the song performed well. Some entertainment agencies who disagreed would request their talents to be eliminated at the last minute to withdraw them.
On October 15, 2019, MBC broadcast a feature on the vote rigging controversy on PD Note. Participants of Produce X 101 and Idol School and agency officials alleged anonymously that the production teams were biased towards trainees they preferred, such as forcing song producers to give certain trainees more lines and providing them with more screen time; one of them alleged that a contestant had his screen time completely removed after raising a complaint against a staff member, who had yelled at him to wake up. An anonymous trainee alleged that one trainee, under pressure from Starship Entertainment, was secretly informed about a mission in advance by one of the choreographers. He also alleged that some trainees knew the final rankings before the results were announced, and that a trainee from Woollim Entertainment was told by a representative that only one person from their company would debut in X1.
Two trainees alleged that the center position for the theme song, "X1-MA", was originally assigned to a different contestant chosen by trainee vote before the producers changed it to audience vote at the last minute. A fourth trainee claimed that many participants felt the show was biased towards trainees from Starship Entertainment. Staff members anonymously alleged that, for the final ranking results, only one off-site producer had counted the votes in a separate room and sent them the results via text message.
Idol School
On October 3, 2019, a trainee of Idol School alleged anonymously that only three to four of the 4,000 applicants had auditioned to appear on the show, indicating that the majority of the contestants did not have to go through an audition process to compete. In an interview with MBC, a trainee alleged that, throughout their six-month training period, the contestants were only given clothes appropriate for the summer and had to wear them in cold weather. In addition to that, they were cut off from outside communication, were only allowed to buy daily necessities once a month, and were not given enough food to eat.
During the October 15 broadcast of PD Note, several trainees anonymously claimed that their living quarters had poor ventilation and some girls developed rashes from dust. The trainees also claimed that they were so malnourished that some of them did not menstruate or had periods lasting for two months.
Bribery investigation, arrests, and indictments
On October 16, 2019, the police began investigating whether the producers had accepted money for manipulating the votes. On November 5, 2019, after approval from the Seoul National District Court, the police issued arrest warrants and travel bans for director Ahn Joon-young, chief producer Kim Yong-bum, a producer with the surname Lee, and Starship Entertainment's vice president Kim Kang-hyo, after they had attempted to destroy evidence. By evening, Ahn and Kim Yong-bum were arrested. During questioning, Ahn initially admitted to having manipulated the rankings for Produce 48 and Produce X 101 only, but he later also admitted to partially manipulating the rankings for the first two seasons as well.
On November 7, 2019, the police revealed that the final rankings of the top 20 trainees during Produce 48 and Produce X 101 had already been predetermined by the producers before the final performances were recorded and broadcast. A total of 10 people, including the previously reported four individuals, were arrested on November 12, 2019. One of the other six people arrested was Shin Hyung-kwan, the vice president of CJ ENM.
On December 3, 2019, Ahn, Kim Yong-bum, and Lee were indicted for obstruction of business and fraud; executives Kim Shi-dae and Kim (first name not revealed) from Starship Entertainment, former Woollim Entertainment employee Lee, former 8D Creative employee Ryu, and Around Us Entertainment employee Kim were indicted for bribery and violating the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act. The indictment revealed that Ahn and Kim Yong-bum had met with one other professional two days before the live finale of Produce X 101 to determine the final 11 members of X1 based on pre-finale online votes and had wanted to exclude contestants they did not prefer, particularly those who had already debuted in other groups. Ahn and Kim Yong-bum held a similar meeting in August 2018 before the live finale of Produce 48 to choose Iz*One's final 12 members. Ahn swapped rankings for one trainee who was supposed to debut in Wanna One. A later report mentioned that the indictment also revealed rankings for one trainee who was supposed to debut in I.O.I were swapped.
In addition to this, Ahn had also swapped rankings for other contestants in the earlier evaluations. One trainee from Produce X 101 had originally passed the first elimination had been swapped for another, while the same method was used for the third elimination. He also swapped rankings for two trainees from Produce 101 and one trainee from Produce 101 Season 2, all of whom had originally passed the first elimination. Ahn and Kim Yong-bum stated in the indictment that they had predetermined the line-up for Iz*One and X1 because they were pressured by Wanna One's success.
CJ ENM had earned from the paid text messaging votes from Produce 48 and Produce X 101. Police previously found that Ahn had used services from adult entertainment establishments in Gangnam. This was paid for 40 times by various talent agencies, beginning from the second half of 2018, the cost of which estimated to . The indictment, however, clarified that, from January 2018 to July 2019, Ahn received services 47 times, estimating , that were paid for by the five talent agency representatives in exchange for giving their trainees favorable screentime. In response to this report, 8D Creative stated that Ryu was no longer working for their agency and was being indicted for bribery on Produce X 101 through his own agency, Enfant Terrible. Around Us Entertainment stated that their employee Kim purchased alcohol for Ahn but they were not involved in bribery.
On February 14, 2020, the Seoul Metropolitan Police issued arrest warrants for two people who were on the production staff of Idol School.
Trial
The first trial was held on December 20, 2019. During the trial, the defendants admitted to the charges while also requesting a closed trial to avoid disclosing the names of the trainees whose rankings were changed.