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HYBE Corporation's subsidiary label, BELIFT LAB, came under fire after they posted a video titled "BELIFT LAB's Statement in Response to Plagiarism Accusations" on June 10, 2024. The YouTube video showed the co-CEOs of BELIFT LAB trying to clear the organization of long-standing accusations of plagiarism.
In April 2024, Min Hee-jin accused rookie girl group ILLIT of plagiarizing NewJeans' choreography and concept. At the same time, she faced allegations from HYBE for attempting to take over ADOR and illegal trading of business secrets.
On June 10, BELIFT LAB responded to the plagiarism accusations with a lengthy statement and a 27-minute video on their social media accounts and YouTube channel. The label announced filing a second civil lawsuit against Min Hee-jin, claiming her accusations caused irreparable damage to the artists, BELIFT LAB members, and other involved parties.
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However, fans of NewJeans slammed the label and trended BELIFT APOLOGISE TO NEWJEANS" hashtag on X. They claimed that the label was unprofessional to categorize ADOR's girl group as "Objects of Adult Fantasies." Netizens disliked the video, especially since NewJeans consists of members who are mostly below the age of 19.
They lashed out at ILLIT's label for using derogatory remarks against a fellow rookie girl group in their YouTube video.
"It just makes me angry and sad. Do you realize that girls might know what that label is saying about them. All of this is bc of adult drama that has nothing to do with them They don't deserve any of this." — an X user wrote.
"Please this is so funny to me imagine making a 27 minutes long video and still nobody is on your side..says a lot!" — an X user wrote.
"An entire label uploading a 27 minutes accusing innocent teenagers and calling them OBJECTS of adult fantasies. Absolutely disgusting and absurd." — an X user wrote.
"illit's choreographer tried to show other choreography from other gg, dancers,.. to prove that he didn't copy the attention choreography but the other videos don't look like njs at all... it's not just hair flip part bro." — an X user wrote.
Additionally, several netizens pointed out how the label named other K-pop groups such as BTS, BLACKPINK, IVE, NMIXX, and more to clear ILLIT of plagiarism accusations.
"It's so disgusting how belift narrowed down these ARTISTS into CATEGORIES. shows exactly how little humanity they have, viewing these girls as PRODUCTS instead of humans." — an X user wrote.
"I hope everyone in that company is disgusted seeing how their beliefs execs full of grown men view newjeans which is absolutely disgusting" — an X user wrote.
"How absolutely disgusting and ridiculous that is An entire label uploads 27 minutes accusing innocent teenagers who had nothing to do with all this and calling them objects of adult imagination." — an X user wrote.
"How disgusting it is that adults avoid taking responsibility for their mistakes and instead attack teenagers and try to put their mistakes on them." — an X user wrote.
BELIFT LAB under fire for mentioning BTS, BLACKPINK, IVE, and more in their latest video
For the unversed, both ADOR and BELIFT LAB are subsidiary labels under HYBE Corporation's multi-label management structure. ADOR debuted its first girl group, NewJeans, in November 2022, whereas BELIFT LAB's rookie girl group, ILLIT, debuted in March 2024. Min Hee-jin accused ILLIT's debut single Magnetic's choreography of being a closer cut to NewJeans' concept and dance sequences.
Meanwhile, ILLIT'a management label (under HYBE) provided more evidence that they hadn't plagiarised in their YouTube video (June 10) by sharing their branding book, which reads "NOT NewJeans." Reiterating their claim that accusing ILLIT of plagiarising NewJeans would be tantamount to declaring that ILLIT had plagiarised every preceding group.
The co-CEOs of BELIFT LAB then pointed out several instances such as BTS' IDOL performance at the Geunjeongjeon Grand Residence in Gyeongbokgung Palace in 2020. They underscored that NewJeans performed at the same venue in 2024 which could also be termed as plagiarising BTS.
In the YouTube video, BELIFT compared the choreography of NewJeans' collaboration with Coke Studio for ZERO with GFRIEND, IZ*ONE, and Sunmi. The label then highlighted that several dance sequences of NewJeans are allegedly similar to IVE's Love Dive and VIVIZ's BOP BOP!
The label also claimed that the NewJeans' How Sweet (May 2024) release concept was similar to LE SSERAFIM's Unforgiven (April 2023) concept. BELIFT LAB co-CEO stated in the YouTube video,
"If we copied NewJeans, did NewJeans copy them?"
However, fans of BTS, BLACKPINK, NMIXX, IVE, and more, were not pleased that their favorite K-pop groups were being dragged into the plagiarism case by BELIFT. Pannchoa reported, that NMIXX fans reported the YouTube video to JYP Entertainment (NMIXX's company) and accused BELIFT LAB of spreading "misinformation."
Before outlining the group's approach, BELIFT LAB then showed several images of ILLIT's debut that were accused of being inspired by NewJeans. It is noteworthy that the Magnetic group was also accused of copying their fandom name from BLACKPINK's Lisa existing fandom—Lillies aka Lilies. The rookie girl group had announced in April 2024 that their fandom name would be "LILLY."
This invited the ire of Lisa's fanbase and additionally, it also bore a resemblance to NMIXX's fanbase name, LILLY. Following this, BELIFT LAB was quick to take the notice down and announced to change of ILLIT's fandom name.
