Prior to their official debut, HYBE's rookie girl group I'LL-IT got embroiled in a plagiarism issue after a famous choreographer called them out for "stealing" her choreography.
Dancer Expresses Frustration After K-pop Girl Group 'Stole' Her Choreography
On February 7, Kelly Sweeney, a Mexican-American dance choreographer took, to her official TikTok to call out a K-pop girl group for using her choreography without giving her a credit.
Writing the title, "This K-pop group used my choreography move for move and gave no credit," the video immediately attracted fans' and netizens' attention, amassing over 3.6M views and 473.9k likes, as of writing.
In her post, the famous choreographer with over 890k followers clarified that while she appreciated the members, she was frustrated that she wasn't properly given credit for her hard work.
She accused them of plagiarism and even tagged HYBE Label's official TikTok account to call to their attention.
Sweeney wrote:
"As an artist and choreographer, someone who devotes their life to creating original moves and does this as a living it's very frustrating to see people take your steps without any credit. As flattered as I am that they liked it so much as to learn it and do it for their video, it's NEVER okay to plagiarize and not give credit. Especially when you're a group of artists. Please do better @HBL #kellysweeneychoreo."
@kellysweeney1 As a an artist and choreographer, someone who devotes their life to creating original moves and does this as a living, it’s very frustrating to see people take your steps without any credit. As flattered as I am that they liked it so much as to learn it and do it for their video, it’s NEVER okay to plagiarize and not give credit. Especially when you’re a group of artists. Please do better @HBL #kellysweeneychoreo ♬ Tití Me Preguntó - Bad Bunny
In the video she uploaded, Kelly showed a comparison of I'LL-IT's dance practice clip with her own choreography.
Looking at the clips, the resemblance of the dance steps can't be denied, prompting Kelly to ask for the credits she deserves and remind HYBE that plagiarism isn't okay.
Global Fans React to Plagiarism Controversy of I'LL-IT
Following the video, there are mixed reactions to the accusation.
Supporters of I'LL-IT defended the members and insisted that they didn't plagiarize it, but rather, did a cover of Kelly's choreography.
Thus, fans are clarifying that the blame shouldn't be on the members but on HYBE and its agency Belift LAB, which is the one who failed to give proper credit in the clip.
As the issue spread to a wider range of audience, the group's fans are sending mass emails to both companies asking to defend and address the issue.
Despite this, fans are worried about how this issue will affect I'LL-IT, as they haven't debuted yet they are already facing issues.
After all, this is a risky time to lose more fans due to the controversy when they just lost one major member, Youngseo, who has the largest potential to attract a stable fandom due to her visuals and skills.
In the meantime, the fans apologized to Kelly Sweeney in place of HYBE, who is yet to release its official statement.
- "You are so talented! As a fan of I'LL-IT, I apologize for this. Hopefully, our fandom will send an email to the company."
- "I'm sorry, take them to court."
- "So sorry this happened, but I'm always supporting you."
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Written by Eunice Dawson.
