Girls group IZ*ONE, suspended the day after the rigging of the votes, will resume its activities.
Mnet said in its official position this morning regarding IZ*ONE, it will resume operations in February. “We have decided to resume our activities taking into account the wishes of members who wish to normalize their activities and the opinions of our fans,” said Mnet.
“We will resume our activities in February and we will communicate the precise timetable to you as soon as possible,” he added.
“I would appreciate if you could encourage the suffering IZ*ONE members so that they can share their precious time with their fans in the future,” said Mnet. “It is not the fault of our artists, trainees and our agency, so make sure they are not injured.”
IZ*ONE had previously postponed the release of their first full album “BLOOM*IZ” after allegations of vote rigging on the “Produce 48” program turned out to be true, which led to the suspension of their activities. X1 from “Produce X 101” also received a direct hit because Ahn Joon-young, who ran the program, admitted to manipulating the results of the vote during a police investigation.
Opinions were strongly divided on the two groups because the results of the survey revealed that the trick was true. As the group was selected as part of a program with the concept of choosing members through fan votes, the group faced those who claimed that it was fair to dissolve it due to their manipulation and those who said it was not his fault.
Since then, CJ ENM has officially apologized on December 30th, about five months after the manipulation controversy. At that time, CJ ENM said, “We will continue to chat effectively so that X1 and IZ*ONE can be active as soon as possible. We will also give up all the benefits of Mnet in the future.” However, X1 after a discussion between agencies, ended up being dismantled.
IZ*ONE decided to resume operations after overcoming the controversy. Attention is focused on how IZ * ONE will return in February when the group announces its return.
Journalist: Shawn
Translator: Shawn
Source: Mnet
