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

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

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.

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.

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.

[#DAILY_IT]
L이 들어가는 단어는 다 아름다운 것 같아요..
Love, Lucky, ILLIT 그리고.. 우리 LILLYs
우릴 응원해주는 많은 릴리즈 덕분에 마음이 든든해진 아일릿입니다
아일릿릴리즈
앞으로도 변함 없는 사랑을 드릴게요!#ILLIT #아일릿#Magnetic #LuckyGirlSyndrome#SUPER_LUCKY… pic.twitter.com/cNeBuBFGpZ

— ILLIT official (@ILLIT_official) April 21, 2024

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.

the ‘L’ in “EXO-L” stands for LOVE that links the letters K (exo-k) & M (exo-m) EXO-Ls considered as sub-unit of EXO, so that EXO-K + EXO-L + EXO-M = ONE coz “WE ARE ONE” and that “L” hand sign could also mean “LOVE LAY” sign and been doing it since 2012 https://t.co/Zr3DlM1gHH pic.twitter.com/vywaVVSgDY

— sai (@saiyeols) April 24, 2024

A grp based in plagiarism ok https://t.co/emRFUD8oMx

— 엑소 ︎ Desi-L ︎ (@purplecosmic_L) April 24, 2024

L is for EXO_L #L_????????????????????????????????????????????????????????#exo @weareoneEXO @layzhang @B_hundred_Hyun https://t.co/UCEpISM1z7 pic.twitter.com/EnHFKQ8KNn

— دختر خدایان کیپاپ (@Shaghay53498335) April 24, 2024

Hybe should hire a new marketing team,'cause EXO-L #EXO https://t.co/ImUZHLIJhS pic.twitter.com/JEXUObrrXN

— Amandina96 (@Amandina961) April 24, 2024