On the 10th, the fan communication platform Weverse published a statement by Belief Lab, the agency representing the group ILLIT, titled “Legal Action Against the Violation of Artists’ Rights.”
Belief Lab announced that they have initiated legal proceedings against individuals who have made harmful and false online posts that defame, insult, sexually harass, spread false information, or slander ILLIT. They further stated that despite being a newly debuted group, ILLIT has been subjected to an excessive and highly malicious form of cyberbullying.
“They reiterated the urgency of implementing strong legal measures to safeguard their artists and mentioned that they have been gathering evidence of malicious posts and comments from both domestic and international sources since their debut. They have also filed complaints with investigative agencies accordingly.”
In reference to the outcomes of the legal proceedings, it was stated that, “We have lodged reports with the authorities against numerous defendants, and the investigation is currently in progress,”and “We will consistently gather proof of defamatory posts and routinely submit complaints.”
In addition, Belief Lab also included instructions on how to report malicious posts and comments, demonstrating their proactive approach to addressing negative or harmful comments by taking legal action against the offenders.
Prior to this, ILLIT had been caught up in a heated dispute regarding accusations of copying from the band NewJeans, during a disagreement between Adore CEO Min Hee-jin and HYBE Chairman Bang Si-hyuk.
As the controversy continued to escalate, numerous malicious comments were directed towards ILLIT. In response, during a live broadcast celebrating their 50th day since debut, member Wonhee’s serious expression seemed to address and condemn the malicious comments directly.
On that very day, Belief Lab took immediate action by addressing CEO Min’s plagiarism accusations against ILLIT and initiating a lawsuit against her. In their statement, they declared, “Furthermore, Belief Lab has filed a civil lawsuit today to ensure that CEO Min is held responsible for the harm inflicted upon our artists and members, caused by the false accusation of plagiarism.”
They persisted in stating that CEO Min had disparaged HYBE Labels’ rookie group as ‘imitations’ or ‘knock-offs’, also condemning her for disregarding the suffering of those who had been subjected to criticism because of her comments.
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