This article is part of our coverage of HYBE vs. ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin. You can read more and view the entire timeline here.
Many aspects of NewJeans‘ concept are being scrutinized after allegedly plagiarizing a Mexican group.
ADOR‘s CEO, Min Hee Jin, has recently been at the center of the media due to her ongoing feud with HYBE. Among many allegations, she accused groups of “plagiarizing” NewJeans.
Yet, recently, Min Hee Jin has come under fire for allegedly plagiarizing a Mexican group called Jeans, first formed in 1996 and with their last released album in 2017.
On various Korean forums, netizens shared evidence of Min Hee Jin plagiarizing the group when creating NewJeans. The first major similarity is the name, with “Jeans” and “NewJeans” being identical, and netizens posted that even the logos seemed similar.
NewJeans has been known to change their logo before each comeback, but netizens pointed out that this was something Jeans did when they were rising to fame.
There was also similarities in the concept NewJeans had for their album compared to the Y2K look from the Jeans CD.
Netizens also shared moments where Jeans and NewJeans seemed to have similar choreography. In one set of photos, the members of Jeans all had their hands on each other’s shoulders and moved in a certain way, which seems almost identical to a NewJeans photo from the 56th ADB Korean Cultural Concert in 2023.
There was even a clip of the NewJeans members seemingly doing an almost identical move, and while it is probably common choreography, next to all the other photos, it raised eyebrows.
In particular, the topic of choreography is emphasized because of allegations against ILLIT for “plagiarizing” dance moves from NewJeans.
NewJeans’ Performance Director Calls Out ILLIT’s Alleged Choreography Plagiarism
When the images were shared on Korean forums, it sparked a huge reaction from fans.
- I don’t care~~~ If Min Hee-jin does it, it’s creativity, but if others do it, it’s all plagiarism~~
- Why are they complaining about ILLIT plagiarizing? LOL
- They copied the group name, concept, and even the music video, but when they do it, it’s riding the trend~ When others do it, even if it just feels similar, it’s all plagiarism~~~ LOL. It would be hard for even some great artists to be this arrogant.
- They copied BTS’s performance at Geunjeongjeon in a hanbok exactly and then claimed it was original! Why are they like this?
On FMKorea, it also became a huge topic and while some thought some of the images might be a stretch, they agreed that Min Hee Jin’s recent allegations against other groups means she shouldn’t be surprised when she is held accountable.
- Leaving aside whether they copied or not, they definitely used them as a reference 100%.
- LOL. At this point, they just stole everything.
- Honestly, if you look around, there are a lot of similar concepts in the world. But if Min Hee-jin is going to talk about plagiarism, she should have been completely clean herself.
- You could say that some of it is a bit of a stretch. But the CEO did the same thing to another girl group, so it’s inevitable that it looks hypocritical. Unless it’s an incredible work that’s 100% pure original creation, they shouldn’t be pointing fingers and attacking others.
The attention given to this issue on Korean forums also reached international fans…
This article is currently going viral among knetz with almost 300k views in just 2 hrs. It highlights the similarities between New Jeans and the Mexican gg Jeans. And now knetz are questioning min heejin’s originality. 😭https://t.co/hP9T2ifQg8 pic.twitter.com/JdkIsc75AJ
— lei (@pastelxsakura) May 20, 2024
With Min Hee Jin’s drama with HYBE, and bringing in other groups due to “plagiarism,” it’s not surprising NewJeans are coming under scrutiny as every move and decision is analyzed.
You can read more accusations against Min Hee Jin below.
Netizens Accuse Min Hee Jin Of Copying Another Girl Group For NewJeans
Source: Nate Pann and FMKorea
