Female Fan Accuses Produce X 101 Staff Of Sexual Harassment After Being Forced To Show Her Underwear During Security Check
A female Produce X 101 fan and audience member has accused the security of Produce X 101 for sexual harassment after she was forced to show her underwear during a security check.
For all pre-recordings of Produce X 101, the staff have a set of rules that were put in place to prevent the leak of spoilers. Audience members who bring in any item that can be considered usable to record spoilers, such as cameras, audio recorders, or writing supplies will not be allowed to attend the recording.
The fan in question was caught trying to bring in a camera during the 2nd evaluations. She was able to attend the recording for the 3rd concept evaluations on June 30, and this time, she says she did not bring any unauthorized devices. This is when she claimed sexual harassment.
She stated that when going through the metal detector before entering the venue, the alarm went off. A security guard checked her again with a hand-held metal detector, and the fan took a lighter out of her pocket, stating that that was probably the cause of the detector. But that wasn’t enough for the female security, who took her to the bathroom for a closer inspection.
After she finished her initial inspection in the bathroom, she was taken once again through the metal detector, and the alarm went off again. This time, she suspected the source of the alarm to be her skirt buckle, but the security guard once again took her to the bathroom.
In the bathroom, the security guard told the fan that she had to show her panties to be allowed inside the venue. The fan claimed this was sexual harassment, but the security guard told her that if she didn’t show them, she wouldn’t be allowed in. Because she wanted to watch the evaluations, she braced for the shame and showed them. She even considered skipping the final, live-broadcast episode which she was able to receive a pass to attend because of the fear of such thing happening again.
Just because it was a female security guard doesn’t mean I don’t feel shame. It is very uncomfortable to have someone’s hands between your legs. If someone feels between your legs with their hands, they can reach your underwear, and it feels like sexual harassment.
— Female attendee
On the other hand, Guardway, the security company who was in charge of security during the evaluation recordings stated that they would never ask someone to show their underwear.
We notified all of the attendees that if the alarm sounds, they may have to leave.
If a prohibited item is found on the person, they will immediately be told to leave.
— Guardway
When Guardway was asked about the situation, they said they remembered the situation, but their story was different from the female fan’s.
She had already been caught many times, and she was put on a blacklist.
When we checked with the security guard who was in charge of the security inspections, the female fan offered to go to the bathroom first for the inspection. There was a sound coming from near her butt, and she lifted up her skirt on her own so the security guard could do her inspection.
Our side has never asked a person to show their underwear.
After Produce 101 Season 2, we stopped using our hands for inspections. We only use scanners. If there is sound heard from sensitive areas of the body that we can’t confirm, we will not let them in.
— Guardway
