Lee Haein Reveals Mnet’s Lack Of Basic Human Rights During “Idol School” and False Promises They Made To Her

She revealed it all.

Idol School contestant Lee Haein has revealed through her personal Instagram many of the wrongdoings that Mnet did during Idol School, including changing the contest format and poor treatment of the girls.

She started off by saying how she has been hesitating over making a statement following her father’s public outcry over the results of the show.

Hello, this is Lee Haein.

I have been hesitating for a while about how I could tell my story and how to conduct myself over this, and also ,because I don’t have a agency, how I could make a statement, but I have decided to make this post.

It was not a good situation so I didn’t want to talk about it anymore because my heart hurt, but I also don’t want my matters to be told through my father or other anyone else, so I wanted to tell you the truth as it is. I think there is some exaggeration and some secondary interpretation that was made known through the media.

— Lee Haein

She did say that she is not sure whether or not there was manipulation by Mnet.

In reality, I don’t know if there is any way to know if there was manipulation or not. I also don’t know if that part is actually an important part of my life or not. Throughout the years, I have felt that life just isn’t fair to people, and even though the time was short, the fact that I was able to meet the fans that supported me was like luck.

I just had the thoughts of how I couldn’t grab onto my opportunity with Idol School. I think the truth will be revealed through the police investigation.

— Lee Haein

Lee Haein then commented about the rumors about the controversial 3,000 person audition.

As for the controversial 3,000 person audition, it is true we were originally told not to attend it. If you (Mnet) want to say that everyone was present at the auditions, I’d like to ask you to release the videos for the first round of auditions.

The date for the broadcast of the first episode and the date that we first started training camp and dorming together were clearly different.

I will tell you about the things I know, the facts, and leave out the things that I thought happened during the filming of the program.

— Lee Haein

She first started by explaining how the rules of the competition were suddenly changed in Episode 5, and how some scenes were fabricated.

While we were preparing for our “Mr. Mr.” stage, I was preparing for a position battle just like from Produce 101, where they pick the number 1 trainee from each team, but on the day of the competition, they suddenly changed the rules so it was not a battle within each team, but instead just one team versus another team.

During the competition, another team performed “Catallena” for their live dance position performance, and their opponents just lip-synced their performance. For the final live broadcast mission, I auditioned for a part in the songs, and the producers who eliminated me just told me they were opposed to me, and said sorry.

There were times when we filmed without any music playing in the background, and they told us to just go with a rhythm and say the song was good anyway. They told us to just laugh in the background. We filmed like we were filming a drama scene.

— Lee Haein

She then talked about the suspected contracts that some trainees signed with CJ ENM prior to the show starting and how she felt like she wouldn’t make it in the debut group.

The number of trainees who received contracts during the filming was not all of them like the article said, but out of the 41 trainees, only some of them got contracts. If you (Mnet) really insist that everyone signed a contract, then you can disclose the details of the contracts with the bank account deposits for them.

On the last day of Idol School when I was eliminated, up until the day before, I thought I would be making my debut, but after calming down a particular trainee who didn’t want to do the final episode, I thought I would not make it into the final lineup. You never know, but I did prepare my elimination speech.

That next day, after preparing for my performance, I went up onto the stage thinking that that would be the last performance of my life.

As I had thought, I was eliminated in 11th place.

I wanted to ask the staff member who gave me the mic (when I was eliminated) ‘why did you make 11th place give a comment after being eliminated when you didn’t have 10th place make one? When you are selecting only up to 9th place for the program group.’

I want to know what you were thinking when you took a two shot with me and (Park Jiwon), when you know that we were both already on a survival program before.

— Lee Haein

She then commented about how the trainees on the show weren’t able to live like proper teenagers during their time dorming at the Gyeonggi English Village Yangpyeong Camp.

As it was revealed in the news recently, we entered the Gyeonggi English Village Yangpyeong Camp in May and we were not let outside the Camp once, until the last day. I think it is because we didn’t have an agency to protect us, as the system was not like Produce 101, where our phones were confiscated but the dorming system was different.

I could only buy necessary items from Olive Young once a month, and I couldn’t eat anything unless it was meal time. There were friends who missed time because they were sleeping because they were tired, or because they were sick for various reasons, even though there is a cafeteria in the Camp.

— Lee Haein

Because of the limitations on leaving the camp and even going to the mart, many trainees suffered and had to go to through great lengths to curb their hunger.

So there were friends who would go to school once or twice a month, like was reported in the news articles. And when they came back, they would hide food in their clothes. But even that was taken away by the staff after they were searched.

You can feel the temperature difference in Yangpyeong compared to Seoul, it is colder. As the filming got towards the final stages, many of the friends were bringing up that they were getting cold, and they continued to protest about it, so in the end, they were allowed to get a package from their parents.

Isn’t it this all just because we couldn’t eat and were a bit cold? When the staff ordered food and snacks, we secretly would take back the leftovers and eat those. We filmed the show without any human rights.

With most of the cast being minors, they didn’t follow the allowed times for filming and the studio didn’t have a single window. Every day, my skin was getting worse. I felt there was something lacking when we moved to a different dorm, only after forcing the production team to do something by nagging and arguing. Nothing would change if we didn’t say something.

We weren’t able to choose to go a hospital either. I know that this is all because there were not enough managers to control this many people. But I don’t think it changes the fact that they failed to provide a sense of comfort.

For 5 months, we filmed around the clock without any sense of time, and we didn’t even have any rights. We didn’t get paid, and we were locked in and confined in the camp. If people say that we wanted to do something like that, I really have no response to those people. I believe that even if you joined a company or something if you wanted to or because of a job, you shouldn’t have to be forced to deal with unfair practices.

— Lee Haein

She revealed that she wanted her contract terminated the day after her elimination, but was roped into staying with them due to false promises.

After the final live broadcast ended, I didn’t even want to see my parents or go to the final party. I met with the trainers alone to calm myself down. I had nothing to say to the production staff who came to me asking why I was crying on the floor.

I asked CJ ENM to terminate my contract the day after I was eliminated, and asked them to tell me the truth about the manipulation controversy. But they told me ‘But aren’t you at the top of the realtime search rankings’ and ‘you are the real winner here.’ I told them I didn’t want to be in a group anymore, but they promised that they would make a new group for me.

They asked me what programs I wanted to appear on, and they said they would let me appear on the various dramas and other things that I was personally contacted about. They promised that they would never leave me alone in the practice room, and let me promote on my own while I was still preparing to debut in a new group. Later on, when I was with the trainees who haven’t trained very long, they told me ‘The only person that is guaranteed to debut is Haein, if the rest of [the trainees] aren’t prepared, Haein will debut solo.’

— Lee Haein

Following this, CJ ENM then told her she had to prepare for MAMA as a back dancer, and this would cause her debut to be delayed even further.

Right after this, they told me that I had to prepare to be at MAMA as a back dancer. They told me to delay my debut a little bit. But after MAMA, they said the timing wouldn’t be right and my image was used up. As the oldest member and the leader in the group I was preparing to debut in, I had to focus on practicing so the other members would follow suit. I spent that time relying on my group mates for strength.

In that time, I saw articles about Produce 48, and asked to join that show, but they stopped me, saying that it would be better if I didn’t participate. So I just spent time practicing alone at the company. I looked forward to debuting in October that year.

— Lee Haein

She ended by explaining that she was forced to sign an artist contract when she was a trainee, and the unfair treatment CJ ENM gave her during her attempts to terminate her contract.

Trainees sign trainee contracts and artists sign artist contracts. For artist contracts, they come with a deposit fee and both sides of the contract need to fulfill the terms faithfully. If I was going to be a trainee for the length of my contract, I don’t know why I was forced to sign an artist contract. The only promotions I received were a radio show and going to fashion week once. If they want to say that they gave me activities, I don’t know how to respond to that.

When I said I didn’t want to do it, they grabbed onto me and tried to convince me to stay. When my promised debut date of October passed by, it was financially difficult for me to continue, and I asked for my contract to be terminated. None of the directors or executives would meet with me. I did not want to leave the company entirely, but for an explanation of the direction they wanted for me, even if it wasn’t concrete. The debut project that we discussed when I signed the contract was all but gone, so I wanted to know what the new direction they had planned was. But they said there was nothing, and I couldn’t even promote as an actress. I decided that I couldn’t fulfill my contractual obligations, so I asked for their agreement in cancelling.

This was back in February, but the document with the cancellation of the contract says April 30. However, I didn’t receive the document until months later, in the summer. This is the actual post-it that was stuck on top of the cancellation papers. I can’t hide my disappointment of all my years in this company being summed up in one post-it note. I didn’t want to say anything, I know I only have things to lose, but if I don’t speak up, there will be even more misunderstandings and I would regret it later in the future. I am just recording down the facts. I’m sorry I’m writing these bad news.

Just like me, some of the trainees who did sign contracts were eliminated, and some who didn’t sign contracts did debut. I don’t think the mere fact that there was a contract can be evidence of manipulation. But no one will know for certain, as the trainees can only really talk about what they know. We don’t know if certain trainees were confirmed to debut even before the show started. I just know that out of the 3,000 trainees that auditioned, not all of the 41 trainees on the show were actually part of the competition to join the final group.

I hope there are no misunderstandings.

— Lee Haein

 

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안녕하세요 이해인입니다 그간 어떻게 이야기해야할지 또 어떻게 행동하는게 맞는것인지 망설이느라 또 현재 회사라는 울타리가없어 어떻게 입장을 전해야하나 고민하다 이렇게 이곳에 글을 씁니다. 결코 좋은사안도아니고 그래서 더 언급되고 싶지 않은 마음이 컷었지만 더 이상 저의 일을 아빠나 혹은 타인을통해 이야기하고 싶지 않았기 때문에 직접 있는그대로 사실을 이야기 하고싶었습니다. 언론을 통해 지인을통해 전달된 이야기들에는 과장이 또 누군가의 이차해석이 들어갈수있다는 생각이듭니다 실제로 저는 조작이 있었는지 없었는지는 알수없는 사람이라고 생각합니다 그리고 그 여부가 제 삶에있어 그렇게 중요한 부분인지도 잘 모르겠습니다. 많은 시간을통해 삶은 누구에게나 공평할수없다는걸 느꼈고 이번일을떠나 짧았던 이런저런 활동을 하면서 저를 응원해주셨던 팬들을 만날수있었던 기회가 운이 저에게는 있었던것 처럼 그저 아이돌학교라는 기회도 그저 제가 못잡은것 뿐이다 라고 생각하며 지내고 있을 다름이었습니다 진실은 경찰 조사에서 밝혀질거라고 생각합니다 지금 논란이되는 3000명오디션 에관해서는 처음에 참석하지말라하는 요청을 받은것이 맞습니다. 만약 모두가 참석했다는 입장을 제작진분들이 말씀하시고싶다면 그친구들의 일차오디션 영상을 공개하실수 있으신지 묻고싶습니다 방송날짜와 실제 합숙 시작일자는 엄연히 달랐습니다. 프로그램 촬영내내 마음으로 느껴지는 제 추측은 제외하고 팩트로 정리할수있는 제가 알고있는 부분만 말씀드리겠습니다. 아이돌학교 미스터미스터 경연준비를 할당시 프듀 포지션배틀처럼 팀내에서 일등을 뽑는 경연준비를 하다 갑자기 경연당일 무대위에서 팀내 대결이아닌 팀과 팀대결로 경연 룰을 바꾸고 경연중 다른팀 퍼포먼스도 까탈레나는 라이브 댄스포지션인 상대조는 립싱크로 경연을 진행하고 마지막 생방송 미션이였던 신곡미션에서는 곡에관한 오디션에서 떨어진후 직접 저를 떨어트리신분들께서 제작진분들이 저를 반대하셨다고 말씀하시며 미안하다라는 멘트를 듣기도했습니다 이외에도 아무음악도 틀지않은상태로 리듬을타며 노래가 좋다고 말해달라는둥 그냥 뒤를보고 웃어달라는등 드라마 씬 찍듯이 촬영한적들도 있었었네요 그외에도 촬영준간 전속계약서를 받은인원은 기사에나온바와는 다르게 41명 전원이 아니였고 몇몇 인원이었습니다 정말 전원다 계약을 모두가 했다고 주장하신다면 이마저도 계약금이 들어간 계좌내역을 공개하면 될 일이라고 생각합니다 아이돌학교가 떨어진 마지막날 전날 데뷔할것같지만 하고싶지않아하던 특정참가자를 불러 달래는모습에 나는 떨어지겠구나 라고 생각했고 혹시몰라 미리 탈락소감을 정리하며 그다음날 무대준비를 마쳤을때 저는 그게 제삶에 마지막 무대일거라고 생각하고 올라갔습니다 예상그대로 저는 11등으로 탈락하게되었습니다 마이크를주신 제작진분들께 묻고싶습니다 9등까지 뽑는 오디션 프로에서 아무도하지않은 탈락소감을 10등이아닌 11등에게 시키신 이유는 뭐죠? 마지막에 저와함께 인지도가있던 서바이벌 출신 다른 참가자를 남겨두고 투샷을 잡으셨을때 무슨생각을 하셨는지 궁금합니다. 얼마전 뉴스에서 나온 이야기들처럼 5월쯤 양평영어마을에 들어가 마지막 생방송날까지 저희는 단 하루도 외부에 나온적이없습니다 휴대폰도 압수당하고 프듀처럼 잠깐 합숙을하고 나와있는 시스템이 아니였기때문에 또 보호를 받을 소속사가 없었기때문에 가능했던 일이라고 생각합니다 한달에 한번정도 올리브영에서 필요물품을 살수있었고 식사시간 제외한시간은 먹을수있는게 하나도없었기에 그시간을 피곤해서 자느라 혹은 아파서 이런저런이유로 놓친친구들은 그 영어마을내 매점이있음에도 불구하고 가지못하고 굶었던게 맞습니다 그래서 학교를 한달에 한두번가는 친구들은 뉴스내용처럼 옷안에 몰래 음식을숨겨오기도 했고 그마저도 몸수색하는과정에서 빼앗기는 일이 다반사였습니다 양평은 서울과는 기온이다르고 체감상으로는 더 추운 곳이였습니다 촬영이막바지가 될수록 추워하는 친구들이 많아 이의를 계속 제기했고 그래도 절대 내보내는 줄수없다는 의견에 부모님께 택배를 딱한번 받을수있게 해줬습니다 단지이모든게 밥을못먹고 조금 추웠기 때문일까요? 제작진분들께서 따로 음식을 시켜먹고 간식을먹는동안 저희는 남긴음식을 따로 몰래 가져와 먹기도하고 그야말로 인권이라는것이 없는 촬영을했습니다 대부분미성년자인 출연자들을 데리고 촬영준수시간을 지키지도않았고 창문하나없는 스튜디오에서 매일 피부에병이나는데도 자라고 강요하는 제작진들의 말에 따지고 따져 겨우 얻어낸 다른 숙소로 이동할때 느꼈습니다 말하지않으면 바뀌는건 없는거구나

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병원도 선택해서 갈수있었습니다. 이모든건 사실 이많은 인원을 통제할수있던 매니저 인력이 부족해서 라는걸 알고있습니다 그렇지만 그렇다고 그들이 편하자고 쭉 합숙을 진행하며 기본적인 지원도 하지않은건 바뀌는 사실이 아니라고 생각합니다. 오개월 내내 24시간 뭐 시간개념없이 촬영한 저희에게 법안이 생기기전이라 출연료 하나받지못하고 그곳에 같혀 생활해야했던 이유가 단지 니들이 가고싶어서 한거잖아 라고 한다면 정말 할말이 없지만 어떤 회사도 본인이원해서 취직했기때문에 불합리한일들까지 참아야한다고 강요할수없는것이라 생각합니다. 마지막 생방송이끝난날 저는 부모님을 볼 자신도 쫑파티를 갈 마음의 여유도남지않아 혼자 선생님들을 만나서 마음을 달랬습니다. 떨어져 주저앉아 계속 우는제게 이게뭐 울일이냐고 묻는 제작진에게 저는 정말 할말이 남아있지도않습니다 떨어진다음날 계약 해지를 요구했고 그당시있던 조작논란에대해 진실이뭔지 알려달라 하였지만 너가실검에 떠있지않냐 너가더 승리자인거다 라고하는둥 더이상 지쳐 팀이하기싫다는 제게 널위한 팀을 만들어주겠다고 약속했습니다 그리고 나가고싶은 프로그램이 뭐냐고 그당시 개인적으로 연락이왔던 드라마나 여러일들도 다 시켜줄거고 연습실에 절대 방치하지않을거고 개인활동하면서 팀 데뷔준비할수있게 해주겠다고 약속하셨고 훗날 비교적 연습기간이짧았던 연습생친구들과 함께있을때도 나는 여기서 데뷔 약속한거 해인이 밖에없다 다들 준비안되면 해인이 혼자라도 시킬거다 라고 말씀을 하셨습니다 당장은 마마 백댄서 준비를해야하니 좀뒤로 미루자는말에 그렇게했지만 마마가 끝나고 시기가 애매해져 활동을 하면 이미지소모라는 말에 팀에서 맏언니고 리더가 연습에 집중을해줘야 동생들이 잘 따라온다는말에 정말 같이연습했던 친구들하나보고 의지하면서 시간을보냈습니다 그와중 프듀48 이 한다는 기사를보고 뭐라도 잡고싶은마음에 출연하고싶다는 의사를 밝혔지만 너는 하지않는게 좋겠다며 말리셨고 그래서 저는 회사에 홀로 연습을 나가며 시간을 보냈습니다 약속했던 10월 데뷔만을 바라보면서요 연습생은 연습생계약을하고 아티스트는 아티스트 계약을합니다 계약금이 오가는 아티스트 계약은 서로의 역할을 충실히 해야할 의무가 있습니다 제가 계약기간이 흘러가는내내 연습생을 다시 할거면 연습생계약을 했지 왜 아티스트 계약을 해야했던것인지 모르겠습니다 활동이라곤 라디오 한번 패션위크 한번이 전부였던 제게 뭐라도 시켜줬잖아 라고 하신다면 정말 할말이없지만 그렇게 하기싫다는 사람을 잡아서 설득시킬땐 적극적이시던분들이 경제적으로 너무힘들어 약속한10월이 훌쩍지난 올해 계약해지를 요구하니 고위직관계자분들께선 아무도 만나주질않았습니다. 제가요구한건 대뜸 회사를 나가겠다가 아니라 구체적이진않아도 진행방향을 제시해달라는 거였습니다 처음 계약할당시 이야기했던 데뷔프로젝트는 무산애 가까웠기 때문에 새 방향을 알고싶었습니다 근데 당장말해줄수있는게 없다는 답변을 들었고 혼자서도 연기로도 당장은 플레이가 힘들다라는 말씀에 전속계약서상의무를 갑이 이행할수 없다고 판단해 해지합의를 요청한 것입니다 정확히 이월이였고 해지합의서상 날짜는 4월30일로 명시되어있었으나 이마저도 매일매일 독촉해서 받아낸 해지합의서에 실제받은날짜는 몇개월뒤인 여름쯤이였습니다 해지합의서에 실제로 붙어있던 포스트잇입니다 저 포스트잇 한장에 제 몇년이 들어가있다라는 생각을하면 허무한마음을 감출수가없습니다 말하고싶지도않았고 말해서 잃는것밖에 없다는걸 너무잘알지만 말하지않으면 많은 오해를낳고 훗날 후회하게 될까 사실만을 기록합니다 좋지않은일로 글을올리게되 죄송합니다 계약을했던 제가 떨어진것처럼 계약이 합격으로 이어지지않은친구도있었고 계약하지않은친구도 데뷔했기때문에 그게 조작의 증거나 지표는 아니라는 말을 합격여부에대해 아이들은 추측할뿐 그누구도 확신하거나 알수없었다는 사실에 대해 덧붙입니다 최종합격자와 관련된 내정자라는건 존재했는지 저희는 알수없습니다 다만 제가아는건3000명중에서 뽑힌 41명이 경연에임한건 아니라는 사실뿐입니다 오해가 없길바랍니다

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