Are the winners of rigged K-pop reality show Produce 101 the villains or the victims – should Iz*One and X1 be compensated?
Controversy surrounding the manipulation of votes on the popular show Produce 101 has sparked demonstrations, with protesters calling for compensation
Reality TV series Produce 101 first appeared on the radar in 2016, making headlines for shocking visuals in their teaser introduction that featured 101 girls dancing on a stage. The concept was to select 11 trainees to debut as a temporary project pop group from a starting pool of 101 different trainees from various entertainment companies.
The first season saw the successful debut of girl group I.O.I. In a short span of time, they shot to fame, winning multiple awards and raking in more than 1.4 billion won (US$1.15 million) in advertisement deals.
The success of the first season spawned a franchise domestically and even inspired two Chinese remakes. Successor groups hit even greater heights, with Iz*One’s 2020 comeback album “Bloom*Iz”, released in February, becoming the first girl group in the history of the Hanteo charts to surpass the 300,000-copies-sold mark.
However, Iz*One’s comeback came in the midst of the furore over the scandal the franchise was embroiled in. The album was released to much public ire, despite fans’ ardent support. Produce 101 had been exposed as rigged.
An investigation was launched in July 2019 after viewers suspected that the votes were manipulated after noticing numerical patterns during the final episode. Viewers filed a lawsuit against the broadcasting giant, Mnet, due to voting service charges which would have been considered fraudulent should votes have been manipulated.
The head producers Ahn Joon-young and Kim Yong-bum were arrested in November 2019 and Ahn admitted to have pre-planned the results and selected the final member line-up before the show even began filming, resulting in manipulation over all four seasons of the show.
The court trial began on December 20, 2019 involving the entertainment agency representatives. After several trials all eight defendants were found guilty and the sentencing hearing took place on May 29 at Seoul District Court.