Detention denied for producers
The Seoul Central District Court denied a detention warrant on Monday evening for two producers of Mnet’s audition program “Idol School” (2017) under investigation for accusations of rigging viewer votes.
Following the scandals surrounding Mnet’s “Produce” audition series and its producers rigging votes that began last summer, the police expanded its investigation to producers of “Idol School” when fans of the show also raised questions regarding the show’s fairness.
Producers Ahn Joon-young and Kim Yong-bum of “Produce” were turned over to court in December last year for obstructing business and fraud.
In October, fans of “Idol School” reported the show’s producers to police and police raided CJ ENM - the company that owns Mnet - twice afterwards.
Prosecution requested an arrest warrant with detention last week for two “Idol School” producers for fabricating vote results while the show aired.
According to the court, the two producers admitted to most of the facts, but it was “hard to justify the need for a detention” compared to “the other case” - referring to the “Produce” scandal.
The decision came after the two producers were questioned for an hour and 50 minutes on Monday morning.
They remained silent when asked by reporters whether the producers admitted to their accusations.
By Yoon So-yeon
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)