Fact Check: Is YG Entertainment Copying HYBE’s NewJeans With New Girl Group OldPants?

Netizens have suspected that YG Entertainment is copying HYBE and ADOR‘s NewJeans.

Recently, accounts surfaced across social media under the name “OldPants.” The account @oldpants_official garnered over 40K followers at the time of writing. Yet, netizens couldn’t deny the similarities between the alleged new girl group and NewJeans. Not only did the name appear to be an antonym, but the logo was nearly identical, featuring a bunny.

HELP I'M CRYING WHAT EVEN IS OLDPANTS pic.twitter.com/GouacINVxI

— thea ★ (@hearttgyu) October 13, 2023

@hannivtg

Old pants new gg #oldpants #yg #hybe

♬ FUN! – 프로미스나인 (fromis_9)

@b_lovelygirl

Tell me pls why they look like Newjeans and Blackpink #oldpants #newjeans

♬ Funny lazy donkey (hilarious song)(937200) – LEOPARD

@prkjaym

I mean at least i got noticed? #fy #fyp #fypシ #viral #foryoupage #kpop #kpopfyp #kpopfypシ #newjeans #oldpants #copy #cheapcopy #funny #prkjaym

♬ XD – El gato pro 777

While NewJeans consists of five members, OldPants appears to have four members. Also, the members’ names are familiar but not those of NewJeans. Instead, it seemed to be copying BLACKPINK: Jennie = Jinie, Rosé = Rosa, Lisa = Lida, and Jisoo = Jiwoo.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by OldPants (@oldpants_yg_official)

@kimsoyaaa0_0

BRO @oldpants_official #dontletthisflop #rosé #lisa #jisoo #jennie #blackpink #fyp #foryoupage #kimsoyaaa0_0 #copycat #copying #foryou

♬ suono originale – ali

Based on OldPants’ Instagram account, it appeared to be a YG Entertainment-founded group, as “yg” is at the center of its handle. So, netizens wondered if the company had been trying to capitalize off the success of two of K-Pop’s most popular girl groups.

But it was also suspicious that the OldPants would use hashtags, such as #HYBE, on its videos.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by OldPants (@oldpants_yg_official)

Yet, some netizens noticed even more similarities but an entirely different K-Pop girl group. They noticed that the content being shared was not original.

It was actually photos and videos from ON1 Entertainment‘s upcoming girl group, temporarily known as ON1 Rookies, consisting of Sazuka, Yura, Jiyeon, Hadam, Subin, and an unrevealed member.

While OldPants still has an Instagram account, the TikTok account that went viral has been rebranded already. Its handle, profile, display name, and content have all changed.

So, YG Entertainment is not copying HYBE.