The final members of X1 and IZ*ONE as well as one member of Wanna One were reportedly set before viewers even cast their votes on 'Produce x 101', 'Produce 48', and 'Produce 101' season 2, respectively.



As previously reported, producer Ahn Joon Young confessed to manipulating votes for 'Produce 48' and 'Produce X 101' and for partially manipulating votes for the first two seasons of 'Produce 101'. However, the extent of the vote-rigging that occurred was unclear until now.



According to reports on December 5, assemblyman Ha Tae Kyung of the Bareunmirae Party received an official written arraignment to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office that detailed 'Produce' producers Ahn Joon Young and Kim Yong Bum had decided on the final members of project groups even before viewers made their votes for the competitors of their choice on the 'Produce' series.



The written arraignment states that producers Ahn, Kim, and one undisclosed person held a meeting at the CJ ENM headquarters on July 17, 2018 and came up with the top 11 trainees who would debut as X1 after 'Produce x 101'. They're accused of manipulating online votes for the show this past May and replacing viewer voted trainees for trainees on their pre-fabricated list.



The IZ*ONE members were also decided upon before 'Produce 48' viewers voted. Ahn, Kim, and one other person are reported to have decided on the 12 members in August of 2018 before the live votes from viewers came in. Just as with 'Produce x 101', the 'Produce 48' ranking of the top 12 was decided before the final episode.



As for the one Wanna One member who debuted, producer Ahn Joon Young is said to have switched the ranking of 2 trainees before the final episode of 'Produce 101' season 2 in June of 2017. This means one trainee who should have debuted with Wanna One did not make the top 11. The producer is reportedly switched member rankings for the top 60 preliminary round in May of the same year.



The first season of 'Produce 101', which debuted the project girl group IOI, suffered manipulation as well. Producer Ahn Joon Young reportedly dropped 2 trainees, who deserved to move on, and replaced them with 2 others for the first round of voting in February of 2016.



Police investigations further uncovered producer Ahn Joon Young had worked with 4 entertainment labels to edit favorably for certain trainees on 'Produce 48' and 'Produce x 101'. He also received over 46 million Won ($38,653.35 USD) in services from adult entertainment businesses paid for by labels.



Reports say CJ ENM made 124,465,000 Won ($104,588 USD) in profits from text message votes for 'Produce 48' and 'Produce x 101'.



Stay tuned for updates.