How does it feel when someone finally admits their mistake, months after the issue has passed, but still doesn’t try to at least apologize to you in person? That is precisely what’s happening to an American dancer, Kelly Sweeney after the plagiarism issue she encountered with HYBE girl group ILLIT. Months after she pointed out the issue, HYBE subtly admitted without even apologizing. So, what happened with this unexpected outcome? Join us in a complete story below.
Kelly Sweeney VS HYBE ILLIT Plagiarism Issue – What Happened?
Plagiarism has been a crucial matter in the global music industry, and it recently became even massive in Kpop due to ILLIT vs NewJeans controversy. And yet, apparently, NewJeans was not the only plagiarism issue that HYBE has dragged ILLIT into.
Earlier this year, an American dancer, Kelly Sweeney, posted on her TikTok and Instagram, calling out HYBE for a plagiarism issue involving Kpop group ILLIT. In the video, she pointed out how ILLIT had been dancing to music with the exact same choreography as the one she created. And worse, the company posted the footage for public consumption without giving her credit as the choreographer.
Kelly Sweeney posted the video in back-to-back format, comparing her dance moves with ILLIT. And it does appear that they were exactly the same. In the caption, Kelly tagged ILLIT and called out HYBE for the plagiarism issue.
“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 their choreographer liked it so much as to learn it, change the song, 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 @illit_official @hybe.labels.audition @beliftlab.”
Kelly Sweeney.
@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
HYBE Tries to Fix the Problem Without Apologizing
Today, months after the issue started in February, HYBE subtly tried to fix the issue. And even when the company did not really apologize in public, Kelly Sweeney announced that HYBE had finally credited her for the choreography in the ILLIT dance practice video.
Along with the announcement, Kelly Sweeney also reminded the public not to hate ILLIT for this plagiarism issue. That is because all the responsibility has been on HYBE’s shoulders, and she only tagged the group to point out the issue for ILLIT’s team.
“They have now added my name with credit to their YouTube video (long after I made this post), but thank you, @labels.hybe, for correcting this.
Please DO NOT spread hate to the girls. The only reason they were tagged is so that they/their team could see this in case they weren’t aware.
It happens way too often in the entertainment industry and needs to stop!”
Kelly Sweeney.
Still, do you think that this attempt is enough? Silently putting the credits months after the issue started without even publicly apologizing to the artist—is it truly a wise decision from one of the largest Kpop companies in the global music industry? Or was it just enough as long as the credit is already there? Please share your thoughts in the comments.
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