Mnet responds to reports of other producers manipulating 'Produce 101' rankings

Mnet has responded to reports of other producers manipulating 'Produce 101' rankings.

As previously reported, producers Ahn Joon Young and Kim Yong Bum were charged with conspiring to rig votes for the 'Produce' series, which meant CJ ENM was not a part of the vote-rigging. However, media outlets are now reporting another production staff member manipulated the ranking for the members of IOI, pointing towards a systemic problem at CJ ENM as a whole.

In a copy of the prosecution's statement for non-indictment, the prosecutors state 'Produced 101' staff manipulated votes for the live finale of 'Produce 101' in April of 2016. They reportedly changed the votes, so one trainee who made the 'Top 11' was removed and another trainee replaced her. Prosecution stated, "Defendant Ahn Joon Young was the main producing director for 'Produce 101' season 1. He admitted that during the finale for the final members, the voting results were manipulated so the rankings of 'A' and 'B' were switched, so 'B' debuted with IOI. However, the defendant also says he was busy editing footage during the live broadcast and handling transmission, so he was not involved in tallying votes. He strongly denies manipulating votes for the final ranking." 

According to the written statement, 'Produce 101' was being managed by former CJ ENM chief producer Han and main writer Park at the time, and they were the ones who manipulated the IOI votes. A rep from the truth commission also stated, "As the manipulation took place as early as season 1, it seems as if they had no interest in properly running the show from the start. We asked prosecution about investigations into the chief producer of season 1, but they didn't respond."

Mnet has responded to the reports, stating, "We're not able to check the explanatory statement for non-indictment against Ahn Joon Young, so we don't know the content. We also have nothing to say about chief producer Han."