There was a common, unique item that ticked off netizens.
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After Min Hee Jin‘s recent win in court against HYBE, many have been revisiting the accusations of plagiarism she made regarding ILLIT and NewJeans.
NewJeans Vs. ILLIT’s Plagiarism Controversy Resurfaces Amid Min Hee Jin’s Lawsuit Win
Aside from the older comparisons, a recent viral post made a new observation regarding the alleged plagiarism. The OP (original poster) claimed that ILLIT’s creative team had blatantly copied a stage prop used by NewJeans. The post referenced ILLIT’s “Not Cute Anymore” concept photos, where the members were seen wearing LED belt accessories. The creator who made those custom belts had called them “doll belts.”
ILLIT’s Wonhee and Minju in “Not Cute Anymore” concept photos | @every______things/Instagram | @every______things/Instagram
The OP argued that the doll belts were extremely similar to the LED belt accessories worn by the NewJeans members during their appearance at ComplexCon. Each member’s accessory displayed their respective initials along with retro-style cute emojis.
NewJeans’ Hanni at ComplexCon | theqoo
NJZs’ custom made belt accessories by KIMUNE for ComplexCon 👾#엔제이지 #NJZ pic.twitter.com/87uo7nwktt
— ౨ৎ NewJeans Closet (@newjeanscloset_) March 25, 2025
While NewJeans wore the items for their performance in March 2025, ILLIT’s concept photos were released in November of that same year. Though the two sets of accessories differed in their appearances, netizens still felt that it was evident that the idea was taken from NewJeans.
| theqoo
- “It’s definitely not just one or two things. This has been going on for a while.”
- “If NewJeans hadn’t existed, that kind of item wouldn’t have come out at all.”
- “ILLIT’s ‘Not Cute Anymore’ was a collaboration with a designer named Ashley Williams, but they just pieced everything together and slapped it on, lol. Are they really trying to accuse even a famous foreign designer of plagiarism?”
- “The more you dig, the more things come out.”
- “At this point, isn’t their concept board probably just covered wall-to-wall with NewJeans?”
- “They’re seriously using another girl group from the same company as a reference book.”
Meanwhile, fans also have also a recent ILLIT music video for allegedly portraying NewJeans as monsters.
ILLIT’s Music Video Sparks Massive Controversy Over Alleged “Shade” Toward NewJeans