Viral 2024 Compilation of Plagiarism Allegations Against HYBE Artists from ILLIT to LE SSERAFIM

On September 22, 2024, an anonymous user posted on the South Korean social media site Pann, detailing a series of plagiarism allegations involving HYBE artists that arose throughout the year. The post named various groups, including TWS, ILLIT, LE SSERAFIM, KATSEYE, among others.

This Pann post quickly gained traction within the K-pop community, amassing over 140,000 views, and highlighted several controversies concerning different HYBE groups. The reported issues encompassed the plagiarism of logos, concepts, performances, fandom names, and more, allegedly taken from other K-pop companies.

The viral post commenced with accusations against TWS, a newly debuted six-member boy band, which faced claims of plagiarizing its logo at launch and mimicking the style of the five-member group ONEUS. TWS was also accused of copying elements from GD & TOP’s “Knock Out”and NCT U’s “Baggy Jeans”music video.

Plagiarism Allegations Against Other HYBE Artists Such as ILLIT and KATSEYE

The Pann user highlighted controversies surrounding ILLIT, with allegations of appropriating the fandom name LILLY. Many fans criticized the rookie girl group for mirroring BLACKPINK’s Lisa’s fandom name, Lillies. Furthermore, the user pointed out the similarity of LILLY to the name of another K-pop star, Lily from NMIXX. As a result, ILLIT decided to change their fandom name to GLLIT.

Next, the user raised accusations related to the latest HYBE girl group, KATSEYE, which faced allegations of borrowing iKON’s fandom name. The group had announced their fandom name as EYEKONs, prompting the K-pop community to remark on its resemblance to iKON’s fandom name, iKONIC.

The four-member virtual girl group from HYBE, SYNDI8, was accused of imitating concepts from aespa. Allegations were made that SYNDI8’s Kanari copied aespa’s Karina in terms of height, outfit style, and MBTI type. The user also noted that the names of the other members and their respective connections to the group were closely related to aespa.

Furthermore, another HYBE group, LE SSERAFIM, faced plagiarism claims involving prominent artists, including Rosalia, SZA, Doja Cat, and Tyla. The user alleged that LE SSERAFIM’s singing style, concept, choreography, and performances were influenced by Rosalia. They also claimed that the group plagiarized Tyla’s “Water,”Doja Cat’s “Woman,”and that the track “Swan Song”bore similarities to SZA’s “Kill Bill.”

The user pointed out recurring style overlaps between LE SSERAFIM’s leader Kim Chae-won and aespa’s Winter during various events.

The Pann user concluded their viral post, which ignited significant controversy, by expressing the hope that HYBE would cease the practice of overshadowing the names of other companies and artists, a tactic they claimed was being executed through noise marketing, social media presence, and other viral strategies.

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