Mnet Imposes Penalty On "Produce 101 Season 2" Trainees Found To Have Influenced Concept Matching Polls

Mnet has spoken up about the controversy regarding “Produce 101 Season 2” trainees who came under fire for indicating which concept songs they wanted to perform for the upcoming concept evaluation.

The problem began on May 5 when Mnet revealed five concept songs that the trainees would perform for a new evaluation on the show. They then began a poll online for the “national producers” (viewers) to vote for the trainees that best match with each concept song, and each song is to be performed by the trainees that were assigned through these votes.

Trainees Kang Daniel and Kim Dong Bin communicated their preferred songs to their fans through different means, and this brought many netizens to point out that it was unfair to the other trainees who did not reveal which songs they wanted to be assigned.

On May 8, Mnet released an official statement as follows. “‘Produce 101 Season 2’ holds fair play between trainees in highest value. We have confirmed that some trainees have influenced the concept evaluation matching polls through online media including social media. The trainees that were found to have done so will receive a penalty of being prohibited from getting assigned the songs in question.”

As Kang Daniel hinted “Never” and Kim Dong Bin indicated “Open” or “Never” as their preferred concept songs, it seems that they will not be allowed to perform those songs respectively.

Also, because Mnet ambiguously stated that the penalty will be given to “the trainees that were found to have done so,” it is possible that there are more trainees who have committed this error and will receive a penalty besides the ones that were brought to light.

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