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KATSEYE fans defend the group as their label, HYBE, is hit with aespa concept plagiarism allegations for the Gnarly music video teaser. On April 23, 2025, HYBE AMERICA dropped the teaser of KATSEYE’s upcoming music video for the song ‘Gnarly.’
However, soon the teaser was hit with plagiarism accusations, with a section of aespa fans claiming that HYBE used the SM Entertainment girl group's visual concept for KATSEYE’s comeback. The netizens pointed out the stark resemblance between the formation and the background.
In particular, the red carpet, city skyscrapers, and more have been used as a point of similarity in the accusation.
However, KATSEYE fans quickly came to the group's defense, further claiming that the fans allegedly accuse every other K-pop group of copying aespa. They turned to social media to share their reactions and stance on the issue.
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"Sorry but SM/AESPA never created these visuals or owed them outright. Shit had the same vibe and it gets used. GROW UP damn," a fan said.
"Am i the only one who genuinely doesn’t care about any of this fr," a fan added.
"oh so we're claiming ownership of red carpets and black outfits ?? then i guess it's safe to say gidle was on the moodboard for aespa, no ??" a netizen mentioned.
KATSEYE fans further claimed that the concept was rather common in K-pop and has been used by other groups before aespa.
"CGI marketing animations that have been viral since 2021, black outfits paired with red floors a visual used in film for years and adopted by nearly every kpop group even before aespa's debut and... a cityscape picture..." a user mentioned.
"Can you imagine , you targetin hybe group knowing damn well aespa got history (since debut ) being "having inspired' by (plagiarizing ) actual artist and never given them credit,"a fan wrote.
"SM stans really have a collective IQ of -10. Everyday they're dragging different artists for plagiarism using 2-3 frames of MVs," a user stated.
On the other hand, fans of aespa criticized HYBE and accused them of resorting to plagiarism to gain views.
"Drama is a red circle and dancing with back up dancers. Katseye are on a red carpet with camera men. And of all groups to talk about plagiarism, it should not be aespa stans lol," a fan mentioned.
"At this point I'm thinking that hybe is doing this on purpose to get insights to get views, so everyone will talk about it. I mean do you really think people would care about their group as much if this not happen?,"a netizen claimed.
"It’s the EXACT same shot. The group in center of the scene in similar poses in the same outfits on the red circle carpet with people dressed in black surrounding them with same black backdrop, same lighting and same aspect ratio. it coulda been a shot from drama mv,"a netizen stated.
Know more about HYBE America's multinational band KATSEYE and SM Entertainment's girl group aespa
KATSEYE is a six-piece girl band: Manon, Sophia, Daniela, Lara, Megan, and Yoonchae. The girl band is multinational, as the idols are from countries like South Korea, the USA, the Philippines, and Switzerland. The girl group was formed through the 2023 survival show titled Dream Academy, which was a joint venture between HYBE and American label Geffen Records.
KATSEYE debuted under HYBE AMERICA, the American subsidiary of HYBE LABELS, on June 27, 2024, with the song titled Debut. They unveiled their first mini album named SIS (Soft is Strong) in August 2024. This was followed by the release of the viral hit track Touch in October 2024.
On the other hand, SM Entertainment debuted aespa, a four-piece girl group: Karina, Winter, Giselle, and Ningning in 2020.
aespa showcased their talents for the first time through the song, Black Mamba, released on November 17, 2020. They are the first group in K-pop group to have their computer-generated avatars and are widely known for their music video concepts surrounding the same. Since their debut, aespa has dropped hit tracks like Next Level, Savage, Spicy, Drama, Armageddon, and Supernova.
In 2024, aespa was honored with the Song of the Year award at the Mnet Asian Music Awards, D-Awards, Golden Disc Awards, Korea Grand Music Awards, and more for Supernova. In March 2025, aespa finished their world tour titled Synk: Parallel Line, which began in June 2024.
The K-pop girl group was invited to the 2025 Billboard Women in Music awards, where they received the Group of the Year accolade.
KATSEYE is gearing up for their first comeback with the single Gnarly, scheduled to be out on April 30, 2025. Meanwhile, aespa will become the first female K-pop act to perform at the Middle Eastern music festival—Mawazine, which is confirmed to be held between June 20 and 28, 2025, in Morocco.
