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On November 13, 2024, BELIFT LAB (a HYBE subsidiary) was accused of plagiarizing NewJeans' planning proposal, prepared by former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin. Hankyoreh Newspaper reported on November 12 that a HYBE whistleblower revealed that BELIFT LAB had allegedly asked for Min Hee-jin's planning proposal before debuting ILLIT.
According to reports, while serving as HYBE's Chief Brand Officer in May 2020, Min Hee-jin created and drafted the NewJeans concept.
On November 13, a portion of ILLIT's planning proposal went viral on the Korean online forum, TheQoo. Apart from allegedly copying the proposal's theme, fonts, design, and concept, BELIFT LAB also reportedly tried to create ILLIT with members who looked similar to NewJeans members, especially Minji.
Netizen discussions on TheQoo reportedly marked how the models from the ILLIT planning proposal allegedly resembled Minji, mirroring her demeanor and facial structure. The model on the planning proposal mood board depicted the type of members a label would recruit to debut in the final K-pop group.
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ILLIT is a rookie girl group under BELIFT LAB, which debuted on March 25, 2024. NewJeans is another rookie girl group under ADOR (another HYBE subsidiary), which debuted in July 2022.
BELIFT LAB's planning proposal for ILLIT reportedly has stark similarities with ADOR's NewJeans
Hankyoreh Newspaper reported that the font and layout in ILLIT and NewJeans' proposals in terms of texts were similar, as though they were created using the same template. ILLIT's (debuted in 2024) document also had similar circular design elements, mirroring the other group's.
Both proposals reportedly also contained similar color themes and used similar keywords. NewJeans used the keyword "influencer" while ILLIT used "creator," which are synonyms. In order to engage with consumers' lifestyles, both documents allegedly used American YouTuber Emma Chamberlain as one of its prime examples.
Hankyoreh Newspaper also claimed that each HYBE subsidiary label uses a different template for each of its K-pop groups. Hence, the similarities between the two girl groups' documents raised suspicions.
However, BELIFT LAB refuted all allegations of plagiarism and said that ILLIT's planning proposal was finalized and shared internally with the company executives in July 2023, while they received the ADOR girl group's document in August 2023. The label also announced it had filed a lawsuit against Min Hee-jin for defamation.
"ILLIT's branding strategy and concept were finalized and shared internally on July 21, 2023. The whistleblower sent the so-called 'plan' (to BELIFT LAB) after that, on August 28, 2023, so it could not have influenced ILLIT's concept given the timing."
In other news, Min Hee-jin was fired from the role of CEO by the ADOR board of directors on August 27, 2024. She filed an injunction in court to get legally re-hired at the head of the label, however, the court rejected her plea. ADOR appointed Kim Joo-young as its new CEO on August 27.
