NewJeans Choreographers Speak Out About ILLIT’s Plagiarism Controversy

On May 13th, Kim Eun-joo, ADOR’s performance director who was responsible for the choreographies of “Attention”and “Hype Boy”, expressed her surprise on social media, questioning the authenticity of a choreography used in a commercial. She had been withholding her thoughts for a while and found it hard to believe that it was merely a coincidence.

She affirmed, “Indeed, there may be parallels,”while also stating, “Nevertheless, if you utilize the choreography as a guide, it would be best to make some adjustments. It’s similar to copying and pasting.”

Black Q, also known as Kim Young-hoo, is both ADOR’s performance director and the choreographer for their hit songs “Cookie”, “OMG”, and “Super Shy”. When asked about the similarities between the group’s choreography and a commercial, Black Q expressed surprise and suspicion, stating, “I had my doubts, but I never imagined they would directly copy the CF choreography. It must have been a difficult journey for someone to come up with this idea.”

The performance director did not explicitly state the subject of their discussion, but given the mention of “CF choreography”, it is believed that they were singling out ILLIT, the girl group that has sparked controversy for imitating NewJeans’s choreography.

Specifically, Black Q has been responsible for overseeing most of NewJeans’s choreography and was given the nickname “NewJeans’s father.”While he has not addressed the ILLIT plagiarism controversy, his recent post has caused speculation among netizens about the severity of the issue.

After someone alleged that the choreography in ILLIT’s new song “Lucky Girl Syndrome”was reminiscent of NewJeans’s dance in a McDonald’s commercial, both choreographers took to social media to defend their work.

Recently, ILLIT has faced multiple allegations of plagiarism from NewJeans. Their debut song “Magnetic”featured a choreography where the members lifted one arm and spun the other, which was deemed too similar to NewJeans’s popular song “Ditto”that had been released a year and three months prior.

The famous dance moves seen in “Attention” , where the members grasp their heads with both arms, bend down and rise up again while slicking back their hair, were also included in ILLIT’s performance of “Magnetic”. Furthermore, ILLIT incorporated a few gestures from NewJeans’ “OMG”choreography as well.

Ever since their debut teasers were released, ILLIT has been consistently criticized for their similarities to NewJeans. The majority of netizens have supported NewJeans’s choreographers, with many commenting, “Copying the CF choreography. Isn’t it too much?”and “This is the first time I’ve seen someone copy the killing part like that.”It is clear that the close resemblance between the choreographies has been recognized by fans.

The source can be found on daum.