On November 7, Ilgan Sports released an exclusive report stating that X1 has not signed a contract with CJ ENM yet.

X1 debuted on August 27 with the 11 finalists from Mnet’s “Produce X 101.” Following suspicions and investigations on the manipulation of the votes that determined the 11 finalists, SBS reported on November 6 that the show’s producing director (PD) Ahn Joon Young had admitted to manipulating the results of both “Produce X 101” and “Produce 48.”

According to Ilgan Sports, CJ ENM and the agencies of X1 members had been continuously discussing the contents of their contracts, but finalized contracts have yet to be signed by all of them.

Joy News 24, another news outlet, reported that some members’ agencies have signed contracts with CJ ENM, while some agencies did not because they did not agree with all of the clauses.

Ilgan Sports cited a source who shared, “While the investigations on the suspicions of manipulation were taking place, the advertisement deal X1 was in talks for was cancelled, and it wasn’t easy for them to appear on other broadcasting channels. That’s why the agencies of some of the X1 members stated that they wanted to sign their contracts [with CJ ENM] after seeing how the results of the investigations turn out. In IZ*ONE’s case as well, all of the members signed their contracts six months after their debut, so CJ ENM didn’t mind having X1 start promoting without signing a contract.”

Another industry source stated, “The members and their agencies are looking ahead at their careers five years in the future, instead of only their five years as X1. They’re thinking deeply about whether or not it’s right to continue promoting with X1. The members are already receiving lots of malicious comments, and it’s hurting them. It’s a terrible situation. They’re thinking hard about what the best decision will be for X1 and their fans. It’s a relief that they haven’t signed a contract with CJ ENM yet. But from CJ ENM’s point of view, if they think about the revenue they’ll earn from X1’s five years of promotions, they won’t be able to let go of X1 easily.”

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