IZ*ONE will be appearing on Music Bank today to perform their latest comeback, “FIESTA”. Their appearance was petitioned against by a group of netizens as they claimed it was wrong for IZ*ONE to continue promoting when the members were chosen from a rigged voting system full of corruption and bribery.
However, Music Bank previously announced that IZ*ONE will be performing despite the petitions.
Their decision was met with heavy backlash once again, which ultimately led to the head CP of Music Bank, Mr. Kwon Yong Taek, to explain their decision.
They first started off by revealing that equal amounts of fans have submitted petitions for IZ*ONE to appear or not appear on the show.
As we received over 1,000 petitions each for requesting the appearance or ban of the same idol group, we decided to respond to both of the matters in one statement.
I respect the voices who claim it’s problematic for an idol group who debuted through a rigged program to appear on TV as if nothing happened, especially when it was found true that the show had been rigged. But at the same time, I also respect the voices that point out that the members did not take part in the rigging of the votes and their current promotions have no connection to Mnet – the company who rigged the votes
— Kwon Yong Taek
Mr. Kim explained that they ultimately decided to follow KBS’s list of prohibited appearances, which IZ*ONE was not a part of. He also pointed out how the members had nothing to do with the rigged votes.
We have been regulating our guest appearances by KBS’s rules that prohibit people who cause problems in society or commit a crime from appearing on our broadcasts. As of now, IZ*ONE has not violated any of KBS’s rules, so they are not on the list of prohibited figures.
We understand there are people who are uncomfortable with IZ*ONE’s promotions, but there is no evidence that the individual members took part in the rigged votes. We believed it would be harsh to not give these girls, who worked so hard for their new song, one chance to perform on broadcast.
— Kwon Yong Taek
IZ*ONE recently made a comeback with their new hit, “FIESTA”. After being forced to take a hiatus with the Produce series scandal, IZ*ONE is back and ready to perform for their fans once again!
Read Music Bank‘s full statement below:
First, thank you to everyone who enjoys watching Music Bank. As we received over 1,000 petitions each for requesting the appearance or ban of the same idol group, we decided to respond to both of the matters in one statement.
As the CP of Music Bank, I understand and listen well to the K-Pop fans and audience’s opinions about IZ*ONE’s appearance. I respect the voices who claim it’s problematic for an idol group who debuted through a rigged program to appear on TV as if nothing happened, especially when it was found true that the show had been rigged. But at the same time, I also respect the voices that point out that the members did not take part in the rigging of the votes and their current promotions have no connection to Mnet – the company who rigged the votes. The people who were against their appearance are our precious audiences, and the people who were trying to protect their promotions are also precious to us, so we knew that the only way was to be very careful in our decisions.
We have been regulating our guest appearances by KBS’s rules that prohibit people who cause problems in society or commit a crime from appearing on our broadcasts. As of now, IZ*ONE has not violated any of KBS’s rules, so they are not on the list of prohibited figures. Of course, we don’t mean to say that we will cast anyone as long as they’re not on the list. Since they are not on the list, they are on the list of possible casting for Music Bank as a default. The actual decision to cast them is decided upon after taking into consideration of Music Bank’s K-Chart Rankings the reactions of the domestic K-Pop fans, and more.
As there has been a lot of controversy, we held a long and in-depth discussion within our team, and we decided to cast IZ*ONE for our 1,016th show that airs on February 21. We understand there are people who are uncomfortable with IZ*ONE’s promotions, but there is no evidence that the individual members took part in the rigged votes. We believed it would be harsh to not give these girls, who worked so hard for their new song, one chance to perform on broadcast.
We hope that the audience who are protesting against IZ*ONE’s appearance doesn’t think that we turned a blind eye towards them. We will continue to make decisions about our casting with the audience’s opinions in mind. We thank the fans once again for sending Music Bank their love.
— Kwon Yong Taek
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