“Now they are gonna say Jungkook’s was meant for RedVelvet”— Fans defend as NewJeans changes their Instagram bio amid backlash

NewJeans fans came to defend the girl group after they changed their Instagram bio due to online backlash. The 5th Generation girl group recently took the internet by storm when they started their Instagram page @jeanzforfree on December 14, 2024.

The new social media page was set after the singers announced their departure from ADOR on November 28 during a press conference. What caught netizens' attention was the five-colored hearts in the group's Instagram bio, which also represent their identity.

Netizens pointed out that the emoticons resembled those of the SM Entertainment girl group Red Velvet. They also criticized NewJeans for using the colored heart emojis. Amid the backlash, the members replaced them with a new set of emoticons, including a Teddy bear, Otter, Dog, Cat, and Hamster.

However, fans defended the girl group, saying they could have the same emojis as Red Velvet because many K-pop idols coincidentally have similar or the same emojis as a representative identity.

“Now they are gonna say Jungkook's post was meant for RedVelvet not NewJeans,” a fan said referring to BTS’ Jungkook's post on Instagram.

"Couldn't be more accurate. New Jeans never die! Colors have no exclusivity, let's distinguish right from wrong clearly," another fan added.

"So because Red Velvet uses representitive colours for their group, no other group can ever use representitive colours? Grow up," a user said.

Some fans also mentioned that the debate regarding the representative emoticons was unreasonable. They added that they did not want to witness a fan war between the fandoms of the K-pop girl groups.

"reveluvs and nj fans fighting over a representative color rn while I’m just here praying for a Red Velvet x NewJeans interaction like… can y’all chill?," a user reacted.

"do NOT want to see red velvet vs newjeans on my tl that is our 4th?5th? gen daughters," another user said.

"no cause it’s annoying that they may have felt cautious using those colors when it’s literally colors they’ve been using to represent them," a fan wrote.

Notably, before directing the ADOR girl band, Min Hee-jin worked with SM Entertainment on several K-pop groups, including Red Velvet. Netizens accused former CEO Min Hee-jin of "plagiarizing" Red Velvet's branding, including the same emoticons, for NewJeans.

"Her work for rv belongs to rv and it has shaped their identity.. she can’t just use the same ideas for other groups,” a user said.

"MHJ had always love using colors as individual representation. Her 1st work where SM allowed her to be in charge of visual direction is SNSD Gee & she made them wore diff. colored pants. She did the same for f(x) Pinocchio album. Then same for Red Velvet. Then finally New Jeans!," a fan stated.

"Mhj plagiarized herself. Tokkies don't get it, New Jeans recycled Red Velvet!," a fan said.

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NewJeans members celebrate Min Hee-jin's birthday on new social media page

On December 16, Danielle of NewJeans took to the new Instagram page to wish Min Hee-jin, ADOR's former creative director and CEO, through a childhood video. In the video, young Danielle sang the classic Happy Birthday song. Meanwhile, Hanni shared a picture of three horses with the caption:

“CEO Nim~!!~!~!~!~ Happy birthday!!!! I hope you have an amazingly happy day today!!! eat delicious cake and receive lots of endless love!!”

Hyein shared a sketch seemingly depicting Min Hee-jin with a birthday wish.

The new social media page, @jeanzforfree, has been serving as a direct line of communication between fans and the girl group. The five members actively share stories and posts, providing fans with new content.

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In other news, ADOR filed a lawsuit against NewJeans on December 5, 2024, to confirm the validity of their exclusive contract.