Well well well, what started as disgruntled fans accusing Mnet’s Produce 101 of fixing votes has turn into something very real. Eight people have been charged with crimes including top PDs of the Produce 101 series like Ahn Joon Young and Kim Young Bum. All of the seasons have been confirmed to be rigged from very small scale to very large scale. In the first preliminary hearing, all 8 that are going to stand trial has already admitted to their crimes and requested a closed door trial so that the leak names would not get out to the public and further damaging idols or those idols-that-was-suppose-to-be-in-but-rigged-out lives. It actually been confirmed that one member on either IOI or Izone is actually not supposed to be there by pure fan votes, it’s just we don’t know who. Some fans of the series have cried for the names to be released, and call the closed trial request another “cover up measure”. As this case wraps up, I can’t help but think, was this what these fans that started the whole process really wanted? A destruction of one of their favorite shows? And why do the fans need the names? IZONE and X1 are already probably destroy beyond measure and that they aren’t coming back anytime soon if ever. Is this what does oppa-obsess fan really wanted? A destruction of basically two groups career just because yada yada oppa didn’t make it and maybe possibly rigged out? Sure I get it, people like Kaeun, Jonghyun, Jinhyuk whoever might have deserved it more than any of the idols that became unfairly a member of the group that was produce. But come on, these are all idol trainees, I think the time and routine they went through, I think all of them should deserve a spot on the Produce team.
Following this investigation, Mnet has recently decided to stop all “audition” shows. This means basically all shows that are like “Produce” or “finding a Kpop group through survival shows” kinda thing and that Mnet will be now focused on more music shows like “Queendom”
I can’t help but laugh that these 8 guys are about to have probably a harsher sentence than people from that YG scandal and Burning Sun and will have more fan hating on them for rigging their faves out. It’s a sad world we lived in when the truth tellers, the people who accept that they have misconduct face graver consequences than those who lie and deny. Just something to think about over Christmas.