Is “Boys Planet” affected? PD Ahn Joon Young rehired by Mnet after imprisonment for vote manipulation
PD Ahn Joon Young, who was imprisoned after conducting vote manipulation in the Mnet audition show “Produce”, is already planning new contents.
Cable channel Mnet has rehired PD Ahn Joon Young PD, who had previously been sentenced to prison for manipulating paid text votes in the “Produce” series. After serving his sentence, he rejoined the company in April this year.
On April 3rd, a Mnet official revealed to My Daily, “Considering his sincere remorse for his past mistakes and his strong desire to recover the trust for Mnet and himself, we decided to give him another chance.”
However, Mnet also explained that Ahn Joon Young PD has nothing to do with “Boys Planet”, an audition program with a similar concept to the “Produce” series. He is reportedly planning new content that will be aired in the future.
Ahn Joon Young made a name for himself as a veteran PD in the audition program field, having directed successful programs such as “Superstar K2”, “Superstar K3”, “Superstar K4”, as well as season 1 and 2 of “Dancing 9”. He was also in charge of the first season of “Produce 101”, which aired in 2016 and became a huge hit, expanding his reputation as an audition program expert.
He later went on to create project groups such as I.O.I, Wanna One, IZ*ONE, and X1 through “Produce 101 Season 2”, “Produce 48”, and “Produce X 101”, respectively.
However, Ahn Joon Young PD was later indicted for manipulating viewer’s paid text voting results and receiving bribes worth tens of millions of won from five entertainment agency officials. As a result, he was sentenced to two years in prison and fined about 37 million won.
In December 2019, Mnet held a press conference to apologize for ranking manipulation in the “Produce” series, as well as announced support measures for affected trainees, including monetary compensation and activity support. The channel also promised to give up all profits obtained from the manipulated programs and create a fund of about 30 billion won.
Due to this manipulation scandal, X1 disbanded in January 2020. IZ*ONE, however, completed their 2 years and 6 months of activities. Some former IZ*ONE members re-debuted in other groups or pursued solo careers, while others returned to Japan to continue their activities.
Now that Mnet has rehired Ahn Joon Young, many people can’t help but find it difficult to understand such a decision. According to them, somebody who has practically trampled on the dream of various trainees does not deserve a “second chance”.
Source: Naver, Daum
