Daisy says ‘Finding Momoland’ survival show was rigged & MOMOLAND members had to pay for it, companies respond

Ex-MOMOLAND member Daisy recently revealed to KBS that ‘Finding MOMOLAND‘ was rigged, as she was told that she would be in the group before the finale.

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.

So basically she was aware that even though she would be technically eliminated, that she was a part of the group, as evidenced that she was on the hook for the group’s debt.

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.

Honestly, the rigging thing was never shocking and certainly isn’t now after a much bigger scandal had already broke, but the fact that the members had to pay for their own survival show is pretty fucked up when you think about it, especially if they’re gonna claim it wasn’t rigged.

MLD Entertainment and CJ E&M, meanwhile, deny wrongdoing.

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.”

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.”

That’s … not much of a denial at all from MLD, honestly. And CJ desperately trying to claim they were innocent third parties in something they produced is … something at this point.

So what Daisy’s saying is probably true because it’s hard to trust anything regarding the integrity of a survival show, much less one run by CJ/Mnet. And the reason she likely doesn’t care about exposing this now is because she’s still on her “hiatus” that was “coincidentally” timed to happen after relationship rumors involving her broke.

Regardless, it’s amazing to think about where MOMOLAND is now considering their ascent was just in 2017, as they have since shed Yeonwoo, Taeha, and I assume Daisy soon, if not already. Not sure if they can rebound or not, but the trajectory the group is currently on isn’t enviable to say the least.