NewJeans gets roped into plagiarism allegations with Mexican girl group Jeans amid ongoing feud between ADOR CEO and HYBE

The flagship girl group NewJeans of ADOR got roped into another controversy regarding plagiarism. The CEO of ADOR has been making news lately for her highly publicized feud with K-pop powerhouse HYBE Corporation. In the ongoing dispute where HYBE accused her of illegal trading of business secrets and company takeover, Min Hee-jin accused the company of stealing the idea for their new girl group, ILLIT, by copying the NewJeans concept.

In 2023, the Mexican newspaper El Siglo published an in-depth article that identified every similarity that may have existed between the K-pop group NewJeans and the Mexican group Jeans. This article got highlighted amidst the ongoing public spectacle of HYBE versus ADOR CEO which had its first trial on May 17, 2024.

Astute internet users have already drawn attention to the striking similarities between NewJeans and the well-known Mexican girl group Jeans from the 1990s. Netizens posted proof in several online Korean forums alleging that Min Hee-jin copied the idea and style of the Mexican group when she created her rookie group and their logo, theme, concept, and more.

---

More about Min Hee-jin allegedly copying 1990s Jeans, Pace, and more, to create NewJeans

The newspaper claimed that the innovation of the concept narrative of NewJeans was substantially influenced by the Mexican pop group Jeans. The 1990s popular girl group was later rebranded as JNS.

The 1990s group is mostly responsible for creating a visual and musical idea that is evocative of the “girl next door” style of the 1990s and early 2000s. NewJeans has only been active since November 2022, despite the latter's 1990s rise to stardom.

Internet users brought forward comparisons between the Y2K style from the Jeans CD period and the idea the ADOR girl group used for their album. Additionally, online users noticed moments in which the choreography of Jeans and the K-pop group seemed to be similar.

Several images showed the 1990s Jeans members putting their hands on each other's shoulders and swaying in a way that was very similar to a NewJeans shot from the 56th ADB Korean Cultural Concert in 2023.

This stemmed from Min Hee-jin accusing ILLIT of plagiarising her group in April 2024 when she was accused by ADOR's parent company HYBE, of company takeover. ILLIT is a new girl group under BELIFT LAB (another HYBE subsidiary) that debuted in March 2024.

Min Hee-jin claimed in her press conference that HYBE is allegedly trying to erase NewJeans by utilizing the concept and theme for the new girl group from BELIFT LAB. Additionally, netizens noted that ADOR's girl group's debut single Attention bore similarities with the film Christian F (1981) directed by Uli Edel.

The theme was set in the 1970s and showed a teenage girl in Berlin who developed a heroin addiction. As she falls in love with a drug-abusing male escort and meets a tiny group of addicts, everything in her life gradually starts to change and disappear.

Several stills from the Attention MV matched with that from the 1981 movie.

Furthermore, the song Attention allegedly has the same tune as that of Living Backwards by Pace and was released in 2021 from the music album of the same moniker. This has further fuelled the controversy as netizens criticized both Min Hee-jin and her group for allegedly plagiarising several artists to create their content.

---

The Seoul Central District Court has mentioned that they would accept evidence from HYBE and Min Hee-jin till May 24 and give a verdict by May 31.

HYBE has called for an emergency shareholder's meeting on May 31 to vote for the removal of Min Hee-jin as ADOR CEO.

Meanwhile, she filed an injunction to stop the parent company from exercising its voting rights, given that HYBE owns 80% shares of ADOR.