Did Lee Chaeyeon's Album Plagiarize SHINee Key's Design? Agency Responds to Accusation

Lee Chaeyeon's solo debut album drew criticism after fans noticed that the idol's album design reportedly "plagiarized" the design of SHINee Key's own solo album. The idol's agency released a statement regarding the accusation.

Keep on reading to know more.

Lee Chaeyeon's Solo Debut Album 'HUSH RUSH' Accused of Plagiarizing SHINee Key's Design

Back on October 6, WM Entertainment dropped the concept photos for former IZ*ONE member Lee Chaeyeon's upcoming first mini album "HUSH RUSH," which will mark the idol's highly-awaited solo debut.

While many fans couldn't help but express their excitement over Lee Chaeyeon's solo debut, as it has been over a year since her promotions with IZ*ONE ended, the singer was unexpectedly hit with a plagiarism controversy.

According to other K-pop fans, the concept and design of Lee Chaeyeon's solo album bares resemblance to SHINee member Key's own solo album, his second studio album "Gasoline," which was recently released back in August of this year.

Specifically, SHINee fans SHAWOL's noticed that the two album's fonts were similar. Not only that, but their color theme that consists of green and purple were similar. SHAWOLs were even criticized by other fans for immediately assuming it was plagiarized due to their similar colors.

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However, other K-pop fans began to agree that Lee Chaeyeon's album concept is rather similar to Key's after seeing the former's other concept teasers.

In particular, fans couldn't help but express their anger when Lee Chaeyeon's album design contains lightning bolts, eyeballs, and a heart design, which was created by Key himself for his album.

Not only that, but as the issue goes further, fans also noticed that Lee Chaeyeon's music video teaser may have been copied as well, as it also gives off gothic, vampiric vibes similar to Key's.

Unsurprisingly, WM Entertainment and Lee Chaeyeon's creative team is drawing criticism from fans online.

WM Entertainment Responds to Plagiarism Accusations Over Lee Chaeyeon's 'HUSH RUSH'

Following the accusations, WM Entertainment had finally released a statement addressing the issue on October 8.

Firstly, WM Entertainment apologized for the controversy, stating, "We are very sorry and upset about the controversy over the similarity in design between Lee Chaeyeon's first mini album 'HUSH RUSH' with that of another artist's album."

The agency then explained, "The concept of Lee Chaeyeon's first mini album 'HUSH RUSH' compares the excitement of a vampire's first time coming out to the world with Lee Chaeyeon's first start as a solo artist, and we also planned the music video shoot with the same concept."

They continued, "Images, such as the eyeball used in the album were also drawn using the objects that can express the 'vampire' concept. Also, we took advantage of the point colors that are often used in horror designs or designs with a Halloween vibe for this album."

WM Entertainment also stated that they purchased the font that would fit with the album's overall mood from Sandoll Inc., inspired by the genre "horror."

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"'HUSH RUSH' is an album that contains the distinctive image and independent narrative that we want to convey. We are very sorry for causing concern to fans who have been waiting and showing their support for Lee Chaeyeon's [solo] debut," the agency said.

Lastly, they stated, "Since this album has been planned and prepared for a long time, we hope that you can show warm gazes and lots of interest in Lee Chaeyeon, who is about to make her start with a new appearance and her first mini album 'HUSH RUSH.'"

Meanwhile, Lee Chaeyeon is set to debut on October 12 KST.

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Written by Robyn Joan