Incident and lawsuit During the live broadcast of the final episode of
Produce X 101 on July 19, 2019, several viewers suspected that
Mnet had tampered with the total votes after noticing irregular patterns in the voting numbers. First, viewers noticed that when they compiled a list of the differences in the number of votes between each rank, a lot of them were the same. In particular, a difference of exactly votes was observed five times. Furthermore, a difference of either or votes was observed six times. Viewers also realized that when the average individual vote count and divided that by 100, they got . They then realized that each of the top 20 individuals vote counts were a multiple of . Furthermore, viewers realized that by multiplying by , they got the total number of votes. Some viewers then tried using the same formula on the individual vote counts of the final 20
Produce 48 members. This time, viewers realized that each of the top 20 individuals vote count were a multiple of . In addition, they were able to get the total number of votes after multiplying by , rather than by . In response to the allegations, Mnet admitted that there were errors in calculation, but also maintained that the final rankings were correct and that there was no intention of changing
X1's member line-up. Fourteen representatives from the entertainment agencies of the 20 finalists held a meeting on July 29, 2019, and agreed to support
Produce X 101's outcome and X1's debut. On August 1, 2019, 272 viewers filed a lawsuit against Mnet for
electoral fraud, as their on-site text voting service charged per vote.
First police raids and witness allegations On August 20, 2019, a search warrant was issued on
CJ E&M offices and a text voting company by the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. During their first search, the police uncovered voice recordings of the staff members discussing vote manipulation on the previous seasons of the show, resulting in them extending their investigation to all four seasons of the
Produce 101 series,
Show Me the Money, and
Superstar K.
Produce X 101 On October 1, 2019, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency confirmed that votes from eliminated trainees were added to the total votes of the members who debuted in X1, a process that affected 2-3 trainees who were originally in the top 11. The police issued a search and seizure warrant on the offices of
Starship Entertainment,
Woollim Entertainment, and
MBK Entertainment. The police also investigated several agencies involved in
Produce 48. Reportedly, per contract signed with CJ E&M, the entertainment agencies were paid for every episode their talent appeared in. An anonymous trainee alleged only was given to their talent agencies for participating in a song, while each participant would only get a small percentage, and CJ E&M would keep additional profits if the song performed well. Some entertainment agencies who disagreed would request their talents to be eliminated at the last minute to withdraw them. On October 15, 2019,
MBC broadcast a feature on the vote rigging controversy on
PD Note. Participants of
Produce X 101 and
Idol School and agency officials alleged anonymously that the production teams were biased towards trainees they preferred, such as forcing song producers to give certain trainees more lines and providing them with more screen time; one of them alleged that a contestant had his screen time completely removed after raising a complaint against a staff member, who had yelled at him to wake up. An anonymous trainee alleged that one trainee, under pressure from Starship Entertainment, was secretly informed about a mission in advance by one of the choreographers. Two trainees alleged that the center position for the theme song, "X1-MA", was originally assigned to a different contestant chosen by trainee vote before the producers changed it to audience vote at the last minute. A fourth trainee claimed that many participants felt the show was biased towards trainees from Starship Entertainment. On November 5, 2019, after approval from the Seoul National District Court, the police issued arrest warrants and travel bans for director Ahn Joon-young, chief producer Kim Yong-bum, a producer with the surname Lee, and Starship Entertainment's vice president Kim Kang-hyo, after they had attempted to destroy evidence. By evening, Ahn and Kim Yong-bum were arrested. During questioning, Ahn initially admitted to having manipulated the rankings for
Produce 48 and
Produce X 101 only, but he later also admitted to partially manipulating the rankings for the first two seasons as well. On November 7, 2019, the police revealed that the final rankings of the top 20 trainees during
Produce 48 and
Produce X 101 had already been predetermined by the producers before the final performances were recorded and broadcast. A total of 10 people, including the previously reported four individuals, were arrested on November 12, 2019. One of the other six people arrested was Shin Hyung-kwan, the vice president of
CJ ENM. On December 3, 2019, Ahn, Kim Yong-bum, and Lee were indicted for obstruction of business and fraud; executives Kim Shi-dae and Kim (first name not revealed) from
Starship Entertainment, former
Woollim Entertainment employee Lee, former
8D Creative employee Ryu, and
Around Us Entertainment employee Kim were indicted for bribery and violating the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act. Ahn and Kim Yong-bum held a similar meeting in August 2018 before the live finale of
Produce 48 to choose Iz*One's final 12 members. In addition to this, Ahn had also swapped rankings for other contestants in the earlier evaluations. One trainee from
Produce X 101 had originally passed the first elimination had been swapped for another, while the same method was used for the third elimination. CJ ENM had earned from the paid text messaging votes from
Produce 48 and
Produce X 101. In response to this report, 8D Creative stated that Ryu was no longer working for their agency and was being indicted for bribery on
Produce X 101 through his own agency, Enfant Terrible. Around Us Entertainment stated that their employee Kim purchased alcohol for Ahn but they were not involved in bribery. == Trial ==