MOMOLAND’s Daisy Says “Finding Momoland” Was Rigged

[aures.livejournal.com]

MOMOLAND’s Daisy has revealed that Mnet’s “Finding Momoland” was rigged.

It was revealed last year that the rankings on Mnet’s “Produce” series had been manipulated, and according to Daisy, the final lineup of the 2016 survival show “Finding Momoland” was manipulated as well.

“Finding Momoland” is a reality show that aired between July and September of 2016. The show involved 10 trainees from MLD Entertainment (Duble Kick Company at the time) who had to compete for spots in a new girl group, which would later become MOMOLAND. The final members were determined 60 percent based on producer evaluation, 20 percent based on online viewer votes, and 20 percent based on votes from the audience at the final performances.

On January 7, KBS published an interview they had with Daisy and her mother.

Daisy revealed, “On the day I was eliminated, the agency contacted me and asked to have a meeting the next day. They told me that they had already planned to include me in MOMOLAND regardless of my elimination and that I would debut in the next album once the promotions for the first album were over. When I entered the waiting room after my elimination, someone from the company told me not to worry because they had plans for me.” Daisy debuted with MOMOLAND’s “Wonderful Love,” which was released half a year after the group’s debut.

A source from MLD Entertainment stated, “It is true that we made an offer to Daisy to join the next album, but she joined [MOMOLAND] because she agreed to it. As an agency, we simply added a new member to fill in the aspects that were lacking in the group.”

The KBS report further explains that the MOMOLAND members had to pay for the production costs of the survival show “Finding Momoland.”

Daisy shared, “After debuting in 2017, I got my first statement of accounts. In the section for 2016, when I wasn’t [part of the group], I had debt close to 70 million won (approximately $60,000), and they said it was part of the production costs for ‘Finding Momoland.’ I heard that the costs had to be divided among the members. My dream of debuting in an idol group was strong, and I thought it was natural to pay for the production costs, so I paid.”

According to KBS, upon checking with the agency, all of the other members who participated in the show and were chosen as members of MOMOLAND had paid tens of millions of won (tens of thousands of dollars) as production costs. A source from MLD Entertainment explained, “We had already explained to the members that they would have to pay for the production costs, and it is not problematic because they all signed contracts about it.”

A source from CJ, the parent company of Mnet, denied their involvement, stating, “CJ did not directly produce ‘Finding Momoland,’ and we only programmed it for broadcasting because the agency subcontracted us. When a certain agency produces an audition program, we do not know anything about the members that are chosen, the production costs, or the promotion.”

However, contrary to the claims, Mnet’s main producing director (PD) had taken part in the press conference for the show. KBS reports that the PD had also been directly involved in decorating the stage for the show’s final performances. When MOMOLAND’s popularity grew in Feburary 2018, Mnet aired reruns of “Finding Momoland.”

Daisy has not been participating in MOMOLAND’s activities since February 2019, and she is taking steps to cancel her contract with the agency. MOMOLAND recently made a comeback as six members.

Sources: Soompi, Naver

Sis is done, she really went for it.
Omona, what are your thoughts on this?

Comments

[goshipgurl.livejournal.com]

The rigging is... whatever. But they made the members pay for their own show? What kind of bullshit is this? Do these companies even invest a single dollar in their groups or just take all the cash they make?

The timing of this interview is perfect, with X1 disbanding because of the rigging scandal and Momoland's comeback.

[vintage-boom.livejournal.com]

Record labels globally operate as loan sharks at this point. No one invests anything without knowing they’ll get it back at the expense of the artists.

[lizanka23.livejournal.com]

it still seems way worse in kpop with all the "training" that they make trainees pay for. at least in the states they find people that can already dance or play an instrument themselves

[vintage-boom.livejournal.com]

A&R departments have been gutted so a lot of musicians have to front the cost of their own development before even being considered to sign. It's rife with people taking advantage of young musicians and equally as shitty. Some US labels still do pay for some of that stuff. They just get called development deals instead of trainee periods.

KPOP's is just slightly more transparent about what idols go through before debut compared to US based artists. The amount of money I've seen some indie level musicians spend on their own careers is prob more than some agencies would have ever spent.

[adenar.livejournal.com]

I don't think this would surprise anyone.

I've seen people criticising Daisy for doing this just as Momoland are having their comeback but I honestly don't think Momoland have enough of a brand name anymore for people to care, and I don't think Momoland had a chance of reclaiming their success anyway. JooE is a variety star in her own right separately from the group. Yeonwoo is an actress and has left the group. All this will do hopefully is provide ammunition against Mnet. I'd probably do the same in her position if I'd been cut, then added to a debuted group for three promotions, then cut again for reasons that have never affected any other idol so harshly.

[aures.livejournal.com]

I honestly don't think Momoland have enough of a brand name anymore for people to care, and I don't think Momoland had a chance of reclaiming their success anyway.

agreed. did you see the sales from their cb? they didn't even sell 900 copies yet

[goshipgurl.livejournal.com]

They're basically a one hit wonder. They hit big with bboom bboom and their follow-up song was also successful (only because it was bboom bboom 2.0) but even then, they never won on music shows. I'm so hot flopped completely and their latest comeback also doesn't look too promising.

[welljustguess.livejournal.com]

I didnt watch the shoe, but based on this post it seems that her elimination was based on true rankings, so maybe she should thank her agency for saving her

[oncloud999.livejournal.com]

the rigging, not surprised. they surely knew who they wanted before they started. the paying is a little... wtf but again, considering how shittty korean entertainment companies can be, not surprised. surprised that she's allowed to say this on tv and that it was broadcasted. MLD must either have no power or have pissed someone off enough that they want to end them.

[goshipgurl.livejournal.com]

I read that she's trying to get out of her contract. She hasn't promoted with the group in almost a year so she gives zero fucks. Queen

[welljustguess.livejournal.com]

Same case as Momo

[goldenrosalie.livejournal.com]

i don't think it's quite the same as what jype did. one can't claim rigging for sixteen simply because right from the start they said that final decision is in jype's hands and rankings/votes guarantee nothing. all shows should add this kind of disclaimer tbh.

[welljustguess.livejournal.com]

Ah i see, thank you

[accioanime.livejournal.com]

that moment was so full of BS and just badly executed. Nothing against Momo because I think she deserved to be an idol, but JYP just invalidated the whole show by adding Momo and Tzuyu so randomly at the end, even Momo looked so shocked. JFC if you were planning to add her in the first place, why eliminate her so early then make the rest of the girls suffer through the show only for the one person who didn't do much get added at the end? Then they also justified adding Tzuyu because she ranked number 1 with the votes all the time... so if voting don't matter, no need to add Tzuyu then.

[welljustguess.livejournal.com]

Ouch I didn't know Tzuyu also an "additional" :( (but at least that's because she always got high votes).
I agree so much that Momo's case looks bad and that might make other girls felt that trying for Sixteen was useless.
Thanks to her dancing skill, I realize why JYP want to keep her

[dongsaengkiller.livejournal.com]

Even production costs aren’t covered?? Then what exactly is the company covering? They really are dirty bastards

[bloodtaki2.livejournal.com]

While I wouldn't be surprised the ranking was rigged, that's not what she said tho. This is basically the same situation as Momo. Eliminated and the company decided they don't care about fan voting and will add her to the group anyway. All the contestants were part of that company so that's not all that shocking.

What is shocking is they have to pay producing cost. These companies are so shameless.

[goshipgurl.livejournal.com]

Said the same on Asianjunkie but then someone told me that Sixteen was never based on fan voting and it was always up to JYP to decide the finale line-up. I mean... okay.

[bloodtaki2.livejournal.com]

I never watched Sixteen (but read stuff here and there about the show) and I just checked the wiki and it says that the members were indeed picked by votes of viewers, and it was supposed to be 7 members. Then tzuyu was added by online voting, and Momo was picked by the trainers to form a group of 9. So really, it's the same thing.

While I have nothing against Momo and tzuyu being part of the line-up, their situation is more silly (And shameless from jyp's part) than daisy's, cause they were added on the spot. Lol at least, for daisy, she was apparently added after a couple comebacks. Lol

[hallyujah.livejournal.com]

Ya I think Daisy was smart to toss around the word "rigged" given the Produce controversy, but it doesn't really seem like it was rigged at all lol. Seems like she did receive fewer votes legit and the competition was to *debut* as Momoland. Daisy didn't take part in Momoland's debut, it was their first cb.

Still I'm sure they gave the impression to viewers that their debut lineup would be their permanent one so it's prob more accurate to say they were misleading than "rigged."

[gathyou.livejournal.com]

I'm not surprised that it was rigged, I'm rather more surprised that companies overall pretend it's not the case - JYP was clever to say he had the last words on the group to come out of Sixteen. Finding Momoland was more like Sixteen, maybe not as clear when it was airing, so honestly I don't think it's an issue.

What really concerms me is that the company billed the production costs of the show to their trainees???? that's absolutely awful. I'm already really uncomfortable about the trainee debt system (we know it's a way for companies to control their idols and keep profit for themselves). $60.000 is a lot of money to put on kids (and their families).

Also I don't get people who are blaming her for saying this while Momoland just came back. We don't know what's going on behind the scenes (except that it's a shady company) ; they might put pressure on Daisy to pay an insane termination fee in order to start again. (Or even how they're behaving towards the group, 3 members out/on the way out in a year? that's a bad sign)
Daisy is just fighting back. I really hope it works for her and that she manages to get out of her contrat.

[myungung.livejournal.com]

I guess no one is surprised, because she was added in after elimination. mld is shady af, with the members thing and having tagged debts to the idols.

[cxxl.livejournal.com]

At this point it’s best to believe that every one of these shows are rigged and that final line ups are mostly in 3rd draft looking for some editing mode.

Pushing the trainees to cover the cost of the show is garbage and the real issue here. I wonder if Taeha had to to pay for that ad well, considering she wasn’t even on the program?

[dior-chic.livejournal.com]

Daisy is doing whatever it takes to get out that contract!!! I’m proud of you girl, get out of there ❤️ I enjoy Momoland’s songs but with how MLD is as a company, that’s one group I wouldn’t be sad at their disbandment. The girls deserve better.

I was worried initially that when Taeha left and Daisy didn’t that she was still trying to stay in the group, but it looks like she had to deal with more MLD’s bs and she’s sick of these games

[sra-interesante.livejournal.com]

i mean yeah.... its late for her to join momoland if that's what she wanted , group got their one hit wonder & therefor a peak moment but after loosing members its obvious they're on their way out of kpop 🤷

if this about becoming idol and have a career its not too late but kinda petty way of putting your name out there lol

but if its about outing a shaddy company and hopefully get her money back, you go girl !💪


give us all the tea and dont let those legal threats scare you

[myrrhcat.livejournal.com]

i think you've got something mixed up, daisy is already a member of momoland. she was part of the survival show to form the group, didn't win, but was added to the group anyway for their first comeback. she was there for their big hit and has been on hiatus for the past year or so, trying to leave the company.

[sra-interesante.livejournal.com]

you totally right, i dont keep track of groups inactive members + i have no idea about ggs in general whatsoever lol

[goshipgurl.livejournal.com]

Are we gonna have a follow up post or should we just discuss the updates here?

She said that she felt she was able to return to promotions

The response she got was "no, it's a good idea if you just rest"

— mes #TeamPinky (@OH_mes2) January 7, 2020 (https://twitter.com/OH_mes2/status/1214545081589387264?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

[dior-chic.livejournal.com]

‘She asked for her contract to be terminated but MLD demanded a 1.1 billion won termination fee’

Knew she was dealing with bullshit

[juhli.livejournal.com]

This should get a follow up post for more people to see

[aures.livejournal.com]

OP here, i suggest you make a follow-up post if you can/have time [i don't]

[lizanka23.livejournal.com]

that is ridiculous. why aren't they letting her promote if they want money so badly? do they also have long ass exclusive contracts like SM artists?

[vintage-boom.livejournal.com]

Any “survival show” that’s run by a single agency for only their own trainees is a marketing scheme. They already have the final lineup in mind and it’s just to generate interest in the groups debut. The fact that no one tells idols this...

The production costs is bullshit as are a fair portion of recoupment costs agencies put on their idols. Musicians aren’t property that is guaranteed to grow in value there should be a cut off point in a contract period that if the company can’t recoup their investment while also giving a proper salary to idols that the recouped amount becomes null and void. It should be the company’s loss not the idols since they’re barely responsible for their own overall success.

[dior-chic.livejournal.com]

You’re completely right in both paragraphs

[vintage-boom.livejournal.com]

it's infuriating seeing recoupment costs and what labels try and get away with charging back to their artists. that's always been something that's bothered me about industry contracts. it's like student loans, teens/young adults don't have full awareness of how screwed they might actually be until they actually start working.

[rainstormraider.livejournal.com]

To add to this, one would hope that slave contracts that SM pioneered and then went to war with against JYJ were abolished by the new system implemented after that mess. But there are so many loopholes that it’s an affront to say that the industry has improved at all.
Trainee debt is also something that is a scam. It’s crazy that this method of doing business in bad faith is now at the forefront of Korea’s soft power initiative. People hate on 360 contracts in this part of the world and there it’s being culturally lauded and exported. Amazing!

[vintage-boom.livejournal.com]

I can understand some instances of debt for artists, especially when you're covering their housing and transportation but also like you want these kids to debut and make you money why are you also tacking on debt pressure and stress instead of idk raising capital on your own?!?

It's mindboggling how after this long there still isn't a union for IDOLS because they feel no agency and have no advocates. None of the idols rich enough to help facilitate that and really do something want to stick their necks out.

[lizanka23.livejournal.com]

yeah the idols rich enough due to family/connections have their own class interests and are not affected negatively to the same extent as idols from middle class/ working class backgrounds. not to mention most of them become trainees when they are only in their early teens so of course they're not going to know their rights completely and they have their mindset warped by these companies. it's so sick

[lizanka23.livejournal.com]

i thought JYJ's case only shortened the contracts from 10 years to 7 years. Did it help change some other conditions in the contract too?

[rainstormraider.livejournal.com]

I think companies have to generate more detailed expense reports and provide details to idols when requested but not much has changed.

[cairistiona.livejournal.com]

good for daisy!! she deserves better

but charging all the girls who debuted for the show is fucking ludicrous, especially when the youngest were literal teenagers--especially nancy who was 15/16 when she debuted!!! expecting a 15 year old to pay thousands of dollars for the privilege of being on a tv show to perhaps debut is utterly baffling to me--how did duble kick do anything at all?! clearly they didn't put much money into momoland!

[lizanka23.livejournal.com]

yeah it's so frustrating. companies need to invest in their girl groups too and not just their boy groups. loona and twice are evidence of that, when you really push and promote a girl group

[lightframes.livejournal.com]

A source from MLD Entertainment explained, “We had already explained to the members that they would have to pay for the production costs, and it is not problematic because they all signed contracts about it.”

They say this like the contracts make it justified...