On the morning of October 11, the Kpop fan community was in an uproar when former ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin released evidence in a court hearing, stating that the Creative Director of the group ILLIT (under the company Belift Lab) had requested to send the plan of NewJeans right from the planning stage of creating the group ILLIT.
Min Hee Jin's side also presented text messages and audio recordings from HYBE's insider informant as evidence.
On the same afternoon, Belift Lab denied the accusation that ILLIT copied NewJeans' plan.
“ILLIT’s branding strategy and core concept were finalized and shared internally on July 21, 2023. The informant submitted the so-called “plan” on August 28, 2023 and it cannot affect ILLIT’s core concept,” the company stated.
However, Belift Lab's statement raised a series of questions about its accuracy.
In June, in a video posted by Belift Lab to refute accusations that ILLIT plagiarized NewJeans, Belift Lab's Deputy CEO said: "ILLIT's debut lineup was decided on September 1, 2023, after which we started planning to build the group's brand, it's called the "Girl Group Brand Strategy Plan".
The audience pointed out that Belift Lab had inconsistent statements about the date of establishing the branding plan for the ILLIT group. Is the truth on July 21, 2023 or after September 1, 2023?
In addition, the public questioned whether the results of the reality TV show “R U NEXT?” were really fair or not?
“R U NEXT?” ends on September 1, 2023, with the winning members set to debut in the group ILLIT. But Belift Lab says that the plan to form ILLIT, including the style and core concept, was finalized on July 21, 2023.
The audience asked, did Belift Lab choose ILLIT team members according to the pre-built plan and idea?
