ILLIT Accused Of “Copying” EXO In New Content, Fueling Outrage

This is just one of several accusations directed towards ILLIT recently.
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Kesha Bright
Kesha Bright

Recently, ILLIT have been receiving criticism from allegations of “copying” older artists.

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ILLIT | @ILLIT_official/X

On April 21, KST, the group hosted a live broadcast on Weverse where the five members revealed the fandom name letter by letter to spell out “LILLY.” While fans liked the choice, netizens were not as into it, criticizing the name for several reasons, including it being the actual name of NMIXX‘s Lily and accusing HYBE of “stealing” BLACKPINK Lisa‘s name for her fans.

BLACKPINK Lisa’s Fans Furious With HYBE For “Stealing” Fandom Name, More Criticism Ensues

After this, ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin named ILLIT’s alleged plagiarism of NewJeans the primary reason for her ongoing feud with HYBE.

HYBE’s Bang Si Hyuk took part in the production of ILLIT’s debut album. ILLIT’s imitation of NewJeans was not carried out by BeLift Lab alone as a label, but is something that concerns HYBE as well. As a leading company in K-Pop, HYBE has been blinded by profits, and are copying successful cultural content without any hesitation. Rather than showing something new, they are simply producing banality…

…And ADOR has never allowed anyone, be it HYBE, BeLift Lab, or other labels, to copy NewJeans’ output.

— ADOR/Min Hee Jin

Now, ILLIT are under fire again, this time for “copying” EXO.

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EXO | SM Entertainment

Of the many things that represent EXO, the one most connected to fans is the group’s “L” hand sign. EXO-L is EXO’s official fandom name, with the L standing for LOVE and “linking” the two subunits, EXO-K and EXO-M.

The three are said to equal one when combined, as stated in EXO’s “We are one” introduction.

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EXO’s Lay

After ILLIT’s Inkigayo performance on April 21, the group shared photos on X. One of the three showed the group doing an L hand sign, presumably referencing the double Ls in their name.

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| @ILLIT_official/X

Fans of EXO discovered the photo and criticized the group’s company for “stealing” the hand symbol, saying that regardless of direction, it is meant to represent EXO’s fans.

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