Police gave an update on their investigation on the alleged vote manipulation in Mnet's survival show "Produce X 101." Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, the one handling the case, stated, "With regard to the accusations of vote-rigging of 'Produce X 101,' we got a hold of the mobile phones of the program's staff members after being given with four search and seizure warrants. At the moment, we are in the middle of doing analysis on the phones' data."
The police also detailed, "Even though it is true that a few of our search and seizure warrants for the other staff members were unapproved, those reports stating that not one of our warrants were released are false." This statement acts as a reply to articles that say that the police's search and seizure warrants have been rejected by the court.
Besides the data from the phones, they are also checking whether the producing directors of "Produce X 101" are behind the voting manipulation in exchange for money. Police are also looking into whether that money came from the entertainment agencies related to the accusations from the very first season up to the fourth of the "Produce" series.
Some of these labels are believed to be CJ E&M Entertainment, Starship Entertainment, MBK Entertainment, and Woollim Entertainment. In fact, they have met the companies' representatives for questioning, and also did some searches in the said agencies for materials that could be a major hint on the alleged vote manipulation.
This investigation took place right after the end of "Produce X 101" when accusations emerged, stating that the votes were rigged to change the final result of the top 20 rankings, in which the top 11 boys debuted as a new male group called X1. But because the police are still in the process of studying the materials, they still couldn't give a final statement regarding the issue. That being said, fans of X1 members are still left demanding the truth and are worried about the idols as malicious comments started attacking them, leading the group to have a mental breakdown.
Up until now, the police have been going into the allegations of the show, and it has already been three months of investigations since it started in July. Apart from "Produce X 101," they also decided to conduct the same examination in the past seasons of Mnet's renowned 'Produce' programs, as well as another reality show, "Idol School."
Stay tuned for more updates.
