Recently, CEO of Belift Lab Company (under HYBE Group) Kim Tae Ho had an interview with Osen newspaper on November 15.
In the interview, he shared about the issues surrounding Belift Lab's ILLIT group and ADOR's NewJeans, such as plagiarism suspicions, the noise related to member Hanni...
The suspicion that ILLIT copied NewJeans arose right after the debut of BeLift Lab's girl group. However, it wasn't until April this year, when former ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin personally made accusations that "ILLIT copied NewJeans in many aspects", that the term "copycat" was associated with ILLIT.
The matter became a hot topic again in October, when Min Hee Jin submitted evidence to the Seoul Central District Court to prove her claim that ILLIT's production plan plagiarized NewJeans.
CEO Kim Tae Ho spoke frankly about this issue with Osen: "I believe that there is not a single group that debuted after NewJeans that was not influenced in some way by this girl group.
The success of NewJeans is incredible. Whether the groups that debuted after them chose to pursue a similar concept, or pursue a different concept because of that influence, whatever it was, they were influenced. There's no denying it.
But if you ask me: “Have you ever thought, if your team copied NewJeans, you would have an easier time achieving success?”, I would answer: “No”.
CEO Kim Tae Ho affirmed: "I have always said this consistently, ILLIT has never copied the ideas of Min Hee Jin or NewJeans.
We have evidence to support these claims, but I cannot ask the public to read all the documents. As I said in the congressional hearing, this is a matter for the courts to decide.”
BeLift Lab's CEO also spoke about ILLIT's response to the "NewJeans plagiarism" controversy and other controversies. He shared, "ILLIT is currently suffering a huge loss. This week is a crucial time for the group. ILLIT just made a comeback and is currently promoting their next song.
In this situation, it is even more difficult to refute because it directly affects the artist's activities. However, the ILLIT members are overcoming this situation with courage, so the company's employees also feel comforted."
He continued, “At first, the members found it very difficult. They were worried about the company, so they shared their difficulties with each other and said it was okay.
In particular, the members were extremely shocked when the “ignoring” incident happened (an ILLIT manager was said to have asked the group to ignore Hanni NewJeans).
The members knew very well what had happened in that incident. They wondered, how did it get this far? Did they do something wrong? Did the company do something wrong? I think the girls felt scared about going on stage.
But now, they have become more resilient. I hope that if they overcome this challenge, the members will become great artists. They have matured and are no longer rookies.
Again, I want to be clear that no one is telling ILLIT members to “ignore” anyone.
