Dispatch has released a detailed breakdown of the exact events that happened on January 6, the day of the meeting that decided X1‘s disbandment.
Attending the meeting were 10 people, all gathered around one large conference table:
Play M Entertainment director Choi Seong Pil (Han Seungwoo)
Yuehua Entertainment director Park Moo Seong (Cho Seungyoun)
TOP Media CEO Lee Jae Hong (Kim Wooseok)
MBK Entertainment CEO Kim Kwang Soo (Lee Hangyul, Nam Dohyon)
Woollim Entertainment CEO Lee Joong Yeob (Cha Junho)
DSP Media director Kang Jong Wan (Son Dongpyo)
Brand New Music CEO Rhymer (Lee Eunsang)
Starship Entertainment CEO Kim Si Dae (Kang Minhee, Song Hyungjun)
Also attending the meeting was Swing Entertainment CEO Cho Yoo Myeong. This was the first time the agencies have met since CJ ENM’s apology to the public. At this meeting, X1’s fate would be determined.
The method was simple. The representatives of each of the X1 members’ agencies would anonymously vote “O” (yes) or “X” (no) to continuing X1’s promotions. It was agreed that if even one agency voted “X” (no), X1 would be disbanded. Following the announcement of the voting procedures, Cho Yoo Myeong left the room, leaving only the agency representatives.
Following the conclusion of the voting, Cho Yoo Myeong took the votes, and tallied each vote one at a time. The end result was 4 “O” (yes) votes, 4 “X” (no) votes, and 1 disqualified vote, as the vote was not drawn correctly. He then entered the room, and announced the results. The disbandment of X1 took less than 10 minutes to officially determine. Overall, it took less than 2 hours from the vote beginning to the official disbandment.
January 6, 4:00 pm KST — CJ ENM’s words
Representatives of all 9 agencies and Cho Yoo Myeong arrived at CJ ENM offices. First of all, CJ ENM apologized to the representatives over the manipulation scandal. Then, he left the room, telling the representatives that the fate of X1 is only up to them.
I don’t know what to say. It is all our fault. We will back out [of this decision]. We will follow the decision the agency representatives make. But we hope that the kids (X1) will continue on. We are sorry.
— CJ ENM
January 6, 4:20 pm KST — The meeting begins
For around 1 hour, the representatives of each agency discussed their position on X1’s future. They explained their reasons, both for and against the continuation or disbandment of X1.
I am in favor of disbanding X1. We can’t have our member active in a group with a member that was manipulated into the group.
— Agency “A”
The opinions of the members are also important. The members want to continue with X1, so I am in favor of continuing X1 promotions.
— Agency “B”
January 6, 5:20 pm KST — Anonymous voting begins
An anonymous vote was held between all of the representatives. It was at this point that the report of ‘3 agencies want X1 to disband’ came out in the press. The atmosphere during the vote was tense. The final result was 4 votes in favor of continuing X1, 4 votes to disband X1, and 1 invalid vote. This result was delivered to CJ ENM officials.
I’m worried that the members will be hurt by this. Shouldn’t we postpone the announcement of the results by 1 or 2 days?
— Agency “D”
There is no reason to try and buy extra time. The members will be taken aback. Let’s quickly wrap this up.
— Agency “E”
Most of the other agencies agreed with agency “E”
January 6, 5:30-6:10 pm KST — Waiting for the press release
At this point, the votes were tallied, and the representatives were waiting for 40-50 minutes, waiting while CJ ENM filed their press release. CJ ENM had the opinion of not letting the results out to the media yet. It was here that Cho Yoo Myeong shared the members’ position, and one agency gave their response.
Truthfully, I got a phone call from member “A” last night. All of the members wanted to attend this meeting. There’s something I really want to say to all of the representatives. Wouldn’t it be better to have the members at the meeting right now?
— Cho Yoo Myeong
We’ve already heard the opinions of the members. Why would you call the members here? This is a final decision the agencies will make.
— Agency “F”
Some agencies agreed with agency “F” on not allowing the members to attend.
January 6, 6:15 pm KST — Delivering the results to the members
CJ ENM finished preparing their press release for distribution to the media. The representatives of each agency sent the final disbandment result to the members. CJ ENM and Cho Yoo Myeong carefully shared one proposal to the representatives.
I want to ask the representatives something. There is a song that the members recorded together in the winter. Why don’t you release that song as a final gift to the fans?
— Cho Yoo Myeong
2 or 3 agencies rejected the proposal to have the song released.
Why don’t we film one last video. Isn’t that just supposed to be proper manners, for the fans?
— Unnamed agency representative
A representative instead proposed one last group video, but that was also shut down.
That would just look pathetic.
— Unnamed agency representative
January 6, 6:50 pm KST — Breaking News, X1 Disbands
The representatives left the meeting venue. There was a flurry of breaking news online. One member packed up his belongings from the group dorm, and left the same night. Since then, another member has left the group dorm. Some members have yet to leave the dorm.
The fallout
After the Produce X 101 manipulation scandal hit the news, each of the agencies were busy calculating. Some agencies were looking at hosting individual fan meetings for their X1 members, even before they cast their anonymous votes. There was also the allure of foreign investors helping to bring the members’ individual promotions that agencies were taking into account.
There are agencies who have a plan to form units. The agencies and members that agree could form a unit together. In the end, X1 was broken apart due to the interests of the adults.
The members wanted to attend the meeting in person. They wanted to say that they want to stick together. But some agencies opposed it. In the end, the members’ opinion was not respected here, and that’s a shame.
— Agency “G”
