Ha Min Ho leaves 'Produce 101' and ends contract with current label

By jennywill Sunday, May 7, 2017 205,098 11,600 0

Ha Min Ho will be leaving 'Produce 101' and his label.

He had been accused of sexually harassing minors. His label The Vibe Label issued an official statement saying,

Hello, this is The Vibe Label.

We are writing to let you know about trainee Ha Min Ho, who is currently on 'Produce 101' season 2.

First of all, we apologize to the fans who love and support 'Produce 101' season 2, and to the trainees and staff of the show.

We also apologize deeply to the people who Ha Min Ho hurt.

With this situation, we talked to Ha Min Ho himself, and decided that he would be leaving 'Produce 101', and cancelling his contract with the label.

Ha Min Ho is also deeply regretting causing a controversy as a trainee, but we want to let you know that changing his name to Yu Seon Ho was not to imitate the Cube Entertainment trainee, but his friend by the same name. It's a misunderstanding that occured while joking with his friends.

From now on, The Vibe Label will take care of our remaining trainees (Kim Tae Dong, Sung Hyun Woo) so that this does not happen, and we apologize once again to everyone who was hurt by this situation.

What do you think about what happened?

Sam091094 • Sunday, May 14, 2017

I don't actually believe this rumor 100%. I don't often believe rumors even though I read news like this. It's because I want to be aware and judge for myself. For me, trainees who trained for years can be depressing. They get desperate. When they have the chance to prove themselves, they become greedy. They get out of control and/get easily influence by people around them. It's perfectly alright to reach for your dreams. But their are limitations. Their are consequences of their action. I sure hope they'll reach their dreams without getting involved in scandals. Because people tend to judge others quickly. If such rumor spread, other people's minds can easily change like a blink of an eye. They have to gain the people's trust again which for me, is way worse than trying to debut for years.

trogdorthe8th • Tuesday, May 9, 2017

For people who don't understand why he's left, you have to look at the big picture. One of the things I've always said is that I won't believe rumors about idols and such in this industry until either solid proof comes out, or the company themselves come out with a statement about the situation. We've seen many times that people have come out with malicious rumors (especially during this season of the show), which were proven to be outright falsehoods. I'm not defending the guy's actions, nor am I saying he didn't do anything wrong. You have to look at the culture over there, and the dynamics of the K-pop industry. It's all about selling innocence and sex in a complex mixture, combined with robotic like dance moves, pretty faces and basic voices (adding the occasional good voice to be the lead or main vocal, but I'm not arguing with anyone over which position is more important). It's a strange and incredibly intricate process in which the company has to sell sex to the young fans, while at the same time following the strict yet unwritten guidelines of morality and conservativeness which are so prominent in South Korea's culture. So basically, the idols have to sell the idea of being sexy while simultaneously selling this innocence. In this case, whether or not he was a minor doesn't matter, whether or not the girl's consented doesn't matter, whether or not he and these girls even met up doesn't even matter- the point is, he's now been seemingly 'tainted' with the revelation of these messages. The fact that he could have met up with him, that he could have seemingly had any sort of relations with the girls, immediately kills the facade of him being this untouchable and unobtainable person, which kills the company's chances of really selling his brand. That, ultimately, is what K-pop is all about, whether a group or idol has a rough concept, or a cute concept, or an outright sexy concept. It's all about selling sex and innocence at the same time, and having a revelation like this come out before you even debut kills all chances of that happening. It's a shame, but that's how the industry works. I wish him well.

miitsss trogdorthe8th • Tuesday, May 9, 2017

I think this was exactly how the industry worked a few years back, but I also think that it has evolved over time - where the industry like you say is selling sex, but even tainted material is still consumed because of the intrigue it might come with it. Look at Seungri, or the EXO-member who's dating Krystal (woops, guilty of not knowing which one) - tbf it does seem to only work for men like that, but this is a case a guy anyway. What im trying to say: you are right, but somewhere along the way the taintedness has gotten an appeal of its own and the public has not yet altogether decided what to think of it. Limbo.

trogdorthe8th miitsss • Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Yeah, but the difference there is that both of those people had already debuted and had a huge fanbase at the same time. Equally, neither of them were minors nor were either party potentially involved with a minor during their scandals. I will agree that the K-pop industry is slowly (and we're talking at a snail's pace here) changing and allowing idols the freedom to have a bit more pull with their relationships, but it sadly hasn't come very far yet. Trust, if either of those men hadn't already been successful in their respective groups, it wouldn't have worked out at all. Hell, look at Zico and Seolhyun. Both are popular enough, but not to the extent of Seungri and Kai if we're being honest, and netizens hassled them to the point that they broke up. Krystal really only got a pass because she was dating Kai, but neither Zico nor Seolhyun had that kind of pull to really win over the public, and sadly it ultimately ruined their relationship. I'm not saying Seungri and Kai never got their backlash, but the point is you either get support or are able to bounce back when you've already debuted and have a large following of fans to back you up. If you aren't beloved, trust that people are going to give you unnecessary sh*t for it.

krell trogdorthe8th • Tuesday, May 9, 2017

HA MIN HO's ex-GF in High School is now 'ripping him' via SNS message postings. Probably, AKP will get around to the story soon enough.

Joy29_knk • Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Okay, I've read this like how may times and still don't get whats wrong.He was "accused" but is still leaving? So he actually did do it? Haha, help me? lol. So confued

pink_oracle Joy29_knk • Tuesday, May 9, 2017

It's safe to assume he truly did try to groom underage girls for sex. When Lovelyz Jisoo was accused of sexual harassment her agency stood by her, let her go on hiatus while the police investigated and put her right back in the group like there was never a problem when she was proven innocent. This guy get's thrown off the show and fired from his agency in 24 hours, looks like an admission of guilt to me.

Joy29_knk pink_oracle • Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Now I get it haha. Thanks

minzeliron • Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Well, I mean... with such a low rank, I doubt many people care... like I don't even know which trainee this is tbh.

ani07 minzeliron • Tuesday, May 9, 2017

I think he is the one that always bitched about rapping.

Fairytaleending • Monday, May 8, 2017

holy hell

itsjason • Monday, May 8, 2017

Broduce 101 is such a trainwreck. I love it.

pink_oracle • Monday, May 8, 2017

It takes a special kind of moron to kill their career in the hopes of having sex with school girls.

Im_you_pantseu • Monday, May 8, 2017

It interesting how this season is so messy compared to the other season.

ppase Im_you_pantseu • Monday, May 8, 2017

well its expected. we boys are kina messy lol

backtomimsey • Monday, May 8, 2017

To all his defenders and rape apologists: Why is it so hard to believe the girls? His girlfriend even came out saying he sexually abused her. Is it so hard to believe that a good looking guy is capable of sexual harassment? This happens all the time. So stop defending him. "But he's a boy. He has needs." Tell that to all the girls who are sexually abused and raped by their boyfriends, friends, etc. Then are made fun of and called "sluts". Yes, this happens all over the world.

mile741 backtomimsey • Monday, May 8, 2017

The thing is we don't know if she really was her girlfriend or if all of this really happened. There are a lot of cases where idols were accused of doing something that turned out completely false.

backtomimsey mile741 • Monday, May 8, 2017

If his agency terminated the contract, then it must be true. I am sure the agency knows that Minho could sue them if it wasn't. He has also came forward and apologized. Also, the ex-girlfriend's middle school classmates can come forward backing up her accusations. Only time will tell.

backtomimsey • Monday, May 8, 2017

Given that his dad is a Yonsei professor, we will see if they decide to sue or not, or what his parents have to say about the accusations

miitsss backtomimsey • Monday, May 8, 2017

going from those texts to rape is quite a big step tho. In the versions posted by Allkpop yesterday, there was literally only one sentence which can be interpreted as sexually explicit and no court of law would ever uphold these texts as evidence of sexual harrassment even if the girls were minors. Also: what a shit label for jumping ship this fast - you don't need enemies if your allies are like this...

pink_oracle miitsss • Monday, May 8, 2017

He's clearly his own worst enemy.