Police raid ‘Produce X 101’ office

Police raided entertainment and media company CJ ENM’s building in western Seoul on Wednesday, collecting files pertaining to the recently-wrapped music competition program “Produce X 101.”

According to police, officers raided the office of producers of cable channel Mnet’s audition programs to investigate whether or not the show fabricated the results of fan votes for the final episode of the show.

Fans took to the internet after the final episode of the show’s fourth season aired on July 19. The finale revealed the 11 finalists who now make up the project boy band X1 that will debut in August.

When fans found out that the difference in the number votes was similar - and was “mathematically improbable” - they took to the internet and demanded Mnet to provide an explanation, posing the possibility that the results may have been fabricated so that the network’s favorites made the final group.

Mnet explained last Wednesday that the reason for the reoccurring number pattern was due to the fact that they took the number of votes, converted it to a percentage, rounded the number up to the second decimal point and then converted it back into a number of votes.

Although Mnet claimed that the math “did not change the ranking of the contestants,” fans remained skeptical and pledged to take the matter to prosecutors.

Following additional complaints, Mnet took the case to the police last Friday.

The police searched Mnet’s office, as well as the offices of associated companies that helped in tallying and providing data from the votes on Wednesday.

Fans will still take their case to the prosecutors today.

By Yoon So-yeon