Its been almost a year since the film came out.
12 minutes ago
By now, if you haven’t at least heard of KPop Demon Hunters, you might be living under a rock.
The Sony film follows the story of a group of demon hunters who are also a world-famous K-Pop group, and has remained popular since its release. The film and its associated soundtrack have been nominated for and won numerous awards, including “Best Song Written for Visual Media” at the Grammys.
However, when the movie was initially released, viewers noticed similarities between the film’s most popular song, “Golden” and “I Am” by IVE. These similarities sparked claims that the film’s writers copied the group’s track.
“Kpop Demon Hunters” Writer Criticized For “Copying” And Then “Ignoring” Popular K-Pop Group
Now, almost a year after the film’s release, a member of IVE has discussed the track.
Wonyoung was recently interviewed by Esquire Korea, and shared her thoughts on a number of subjects including the similarities between the songs.
IVE’s Wonyoung
When asked if she had seen the film, Wonyoung stated that she had. The interviewer then asked about the discussed similarities between the two songs, and Wonyoung admitted that she had privately thought that the songs did sound a bit similar.
Uh… this is actually the first time I’m saying this, but when I heard “Golden,” it reminded me of our song “I AM.” I was the only one thinking and feeling that way, and this is the first time I’ve said it out loud myself. But when people around me kept mentioning it too, I realized a lot of people felt the same way.
— Wonyoung
Many reacted to Wonyoung’s comments, with a large number continuing the allegations of plagiarism.
they winning an oscar for best original song with a blatant copy of an already existing k-pop song will never sit right with me https://t.co/xebE0ZNUHU
— 🦉 (@achiavellian) May 21, 2026
Actually, “I AM” is better than “GOLDEN” but y’all are not ready for that conversation pic.twitter.com/ldqfdnxNsw https://t.co/8SpYZorhsn
— 𝅄 ֹ ᩿ 𝐊æ 𝅄 ֹ ᩿ 🍋🟩 (@thekauavictor) May 21, 2026
i still don’t get why starship never sued netflix, teddy or whoever made that song… it’s literally the exact same melody lol pic.twitter.com/JcNulZdJSY https://t.co/6t9atLMmKe
— sam (@tayrrorismo) May 21, 2026