By Dong Sun-hwa
Entertainment behemoth CJ ENM, the operator of cable channel Mnet, is under siege on all fronts after rehiring Ahn Joon-young, who directed Mnet's fan-voting audition program series "Produce 101" from 2016 to 2019. He recently rejoined the company after two years in prison for rigging votes.
In 2019, Ahn was accused of manipulating voting results in favor of certain contestants and taking bribes from some K-pop companies that had fielded the contenders for "Produce 101." The series gave birth to four project groups: I.O.I, Wanna One, IZ*ONE and X1.
In 2021, the Seoul Supreme Court upheld the lower court ruling that put him behind bars for two years, ordering him to pay a forfeiture of 37 million won ($33,000).
Ahn resigned from Mnet following the scandal, but returned to the company earlier this month. Mnet explained that it decided to give him a second chance considering his eager willingness to "restore trust." However, the news about his return has enraged many, especially those supporting boy group X1. The 11-piece act ― which was formed in the fourth season of "Produce 101" ― disbanded only four months after its debut due to Mnet's vote manipulation scandal.
"Ahn shattered the dreams of desperate idol trainees," an online user commented. "Why should Mnet care about his own eagerness?"
Rep. Ha Tae-keung of the People Power Party also slammed CJ ENM on Facebook, saying, "We cannot entrust the future of our content industry to a company that encourages crime instead of giving a chance to faithful and honest people."
In the wake of the controversy, Mnet issued an apology, Wednesday.
"Our decision to rehire Ahn was undoubtedly wrong," it said. "We decided to give Ahn an opportunity to make up for his past misdeeds, but this did not meet society's expectations of fairness. We want to apologize to the people who love Mnet and our employees. We will humbly accept our limitations concerning recruitment and make sure to prevent the recurrence of an incident like this."
But Mnet did not reveal in its statement whether it would expel Ahn as many had demanded. However, its official told local media outlets that Mnet is currently discussing his fate at the company. It is reportedly considering his expulsion as well.
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| Producer Ahn Joon-young / Courtesy of CJ ENM |
In 2019, Ahn was accused of manipulating voting results in favor of certain contestants and taking bribes from some K-pop companies that had fielded the contenders for "Produce 101." The series gave birth to four project groups: I.O.I, Wanna One, IZ*ONE and X1.
In 2021, the Seoul Supreme Court upheld the lower court ruling that put him behind bars for two years, ordering him to pay a forfeiture of 37 million won ($33,000).
Ahn resigned from Mnet following the scandal, but returned to the company earlier this month. Mnet explained that it decided to give him a second chance considering his eager willingness to "restore trust." However, the news about his return has enraged many, especially those supporting boy group X1. The 11-piece act ― which was formed in the fourth season of "Produce 101" ― disbanded only four months after its debut due to Mnet's vote manipulation scandal.
"Ahn shattered the dreams of desperate idol trainees," an online user commented. "Why should Mnet care about his own eagerness?"
Rep. Ha Tae-keung of the People Power Party also slammed CJ ENM on Facebook, saying, "We cannot entrust the future of our content industry to a company that encourages crime instead of giving a chance to faithful and honest people."
In the wake of the controversy, Mnet issued an apology, Wednesday.
"Our decision to rehire Ahn was undoubtedly wrong," it said. "We decided to give Ahn an opportunity to make up for his past misdeeds, but this did not meet society's expectations of fairness. We want to apologize to the people who love Mnet and our employees. We will humbly accept our limitations concerning recruitment and make sure to prevent the recurrence of an incident like this."
But Mnet did not reveal in its statement whether it would expel Ahn as many had demanded. However, its official told local media outlets that Mnet is currently discussing his fate at the company. It is reportedly considering his expulsion as well.
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