🔗 2024-11-12 Team Bunnies Notice & NewJeans – ILLIT Proposal

Hello, this is Team Bunnies.

We have confirmed The Hankyoreh’s exclusive report published on November 11 regarding BELIFT LAB’s plagiarism of the NewJeans proposal.

Through an informant, we obtained comparison materials between the proposal for a certain artist under BELIFT LAB and the old ADOR NewJeans proposal prior to the National Assembly audit. However, hoping for a fair audit process and wishing to avoid unnecessary intervention, we did not disclose them. Also, it was because we had a shred of hope that BELIFT LAB CEO Kim Tae-ho might admit to the plagiarism, offer a sincere apology, and withdraw the audacious lawsuit.

Confirming that the proposal in the reported article matches the materials we secured, and judging that we can no longer remain silent, we are disclosing some materials, including contents of the proposal that were not reported.

As a result of directly comparing and reviewing them, it is blatant plagiarism that exceeds the level of referencing at a glance, and the full text of the plagiarized proposal contained many parts that were more serious than what has been disclosed. Beyond mere similarity in used keywords, reference lists, and adopted concepts, identical keywords and descriptions abounded, and even the margins of the templates used were close to a copy-paste level.

When there was a complaint for internal self-correction regarding this plagiarism case, we could only conclude that the parent company, which should have mediated or resolved it, openly committed a strategy of not just checking but completely erasing the victim label and artist, obstructing their reputation and future activities. This is something we cannot overlook as the NewJeans fandom. At the same time, it exposes a serious lack of morality for an entertainment company that should respect and protect creators’ creativity and independence more than anyone else, and it is an unlawful act that seriously infringes on fairness, which should not happen to anyone.

Explanations in the form of malicious reviews titled “NOT: (Artist),” similar to HYBE’s ‘Music Industry Report (Trend Report),’ can also be found in the disclosed proposal. Through this evidence, it can be confirmed that BELIFT LAB’s previous rebuttal video “BELIFT LAB’s Stance on Plagiarism Allegations” and their clarification through the media on October 11 stating that “strategy and concepts were finalized on July 21, 2023” are all lies.

If BELIFT LAB’s stance of “finalized on July 21” is true, then information such as member photos, concept settings for each member, concept example images, number of members, and average age included in the BELIFT LAB proposal were already decided before the live finale of the label artist’s debut survival program. We would like to ask if you rebutted while being aware that this inevitably implies the survival program itself was rigged.

Currently, there are significantly more materials secured by Team Bunnies that have not been disclosed. If HYBE continues its deceitful behavior and inhumane conduct, we will disclose the other various materials we possess one by one. We sincerely hope it does not come to that.

People who claim to create culture have shamelessly shifted blame multiple times and, despite having opportunities to apologize, insisted they were right until the end, leading to this day. What HYBE truly needs to do is not issue half-hearted statements full of deception and scapegoating, threaten whistleblowers, informants, and the media, or abuse company funds for excessive litigation, but offer a sincere apology.

2021 Team Proposal (May 13, 2020) BELIFT LAB Proposal (September 20, 2023)