There was a girl group that became a target of criticism for no reason, such as choosing kalguksu as their favorite food and standing on stage with crutches due to a leg injury.These are things that ‘Illit’, three of whose members are just 20 years old and two are still minors, actually experienced last year, the first year of their debut.

The time when ‘Eokkka’ began, using the language of the current generation, can be calculated with extreme and unusual precision in the case of Ailrit.April 25, 2024.It is the day when former Adore CEO Min Hee-jin held a six-character press conference.

At that time, the press conference was a feast of vulgar language that completely broke away from the existing grammar, and as a result, it was ‘bewildered’ and soon gave birth to a primitive catharsis that can be summarized as ‘a substitute for me ‘.Was it pleasant and refreshing that a woman who was only guilty of working day and night proposed a “match” to the “old men” of Hive? There was even a hymn called’ National Hip Hop One Top ‘(the pinnacle of Korean hip-hop).

The’ truth ‘was not important.Min Hee-jin’s emotional speech was packaged as ‘sincerity’, and the issues that should have been addressed surrounding the so-called New Jeans incident, such as the suspicion of attempted management rights seizure, were ‘sealed’.Instead, it led to a ‘suspicious’ situation where only the controversy over whether or not a new girl group from another label under Hive, Belief Lab, plagiarized New Jeans remained.

Former CEO Min Hee-jin mentioned the rookie group Ailit, which had debuted exactly one month ago, by name.As a result, the one-month-old group Ailit was labeled as a “New Jeans copycat” or a “plagiaristic group.” As their agency Belief Lab claims, the “coordinates” were marked.After former CEO Min’s press conference, Ailit was actually plagued by various ridiculous “insults.”

Even the diamond-shaped finger heart pose was considered plagiarism when Ailitt did it.When she chose kalguksu as one of her favorite foods, she was attacked for targeting a specific member of New Jeans.She was also caught up in speculations that she intentionally interfered with New Jeans ‘activities when they were returning after appearing on the entertainment program’ Knowing Brothers ‘.When one of the members got hurt and went on stage with crutches, she was met with endless sarcasm such as’ Aren’t you copying New Jeans? ‘and’ Don’t do a show! ‘

Criticism of Ailrit was also directed at these managers.The so-called “ignoring” incident, which was even summoned for the state audit, is a representative example.This claim, which was raised as an issue of bullying in the workplace and was also presented as one of the reasons for the termination of the exclusive contracts of the five members of New Jeans, has now become an example of a “funny and sad(funny and sad)incident” that is not the result of the state audit but rather “that was how it was back then.”

This issue is also being addressed in the ongoing lawsuit between Adore, the agency that represents New Jeans, and the five members to confirm the validity of their exclusive contracts.If you refer to the evidence submitted by the legal representatives of the five New Jeans members, you can find a KakaoTalk conversation between New Jeans member Hani, who sparked the’ Ignore ‘controversy, and former CEO Min, in which she wrote, “I don’ t remember exactly.”

The basis for former representative Min’s claim that Ailit plagiarized New Jeans is also controversial in terms of the ‘timeline’.While the keywords and concepts of Ailit that former representative Min took issue with are recorded in documents written between April and July 2023, the New Jeans plan that was ‘shared’ with Ailit’s agency, Belief Lab, is known to have been delivered in August 2023.

The phrase “Just throw away Newar and start a new one” used in an internal report by HYBE was written in May 2023.Min Hee-jin and Newjins interpreted this ‘Newar’ as Newjins, Ailit, and Le Seraphim and used it as grounds for terminating the exclusive contract.If you search on portal sites with May 2023 as the date, you can see articles from various media outlets that Newar refers to ‘Newjins, Ive, and Le Seraphim.’ Ive is a competing group from another company, and Ailit’s debut date is March 2024.

In the various reviews looking back on the past year following former Representative Min’s press conference, there is something worth noting that is not being pointed out.

‘I copied it, ignore it, Newar! ‘If you grab a passerby and ask them,’ What comes to mind when you think of the former representative Min situation? ‘, these words would rank 1st, 2nd, and 3rd,’ who are they all directed at? ‘


There is a video that is a hot topic related to the 1st anniversary’ Aillit’s current status ‘.It is called’ Aillit’s sense ‘clip.It is a scene from a variety show, and the question and’ subtitle ‘are very venomous.’ So when was the most difficult moment in the past year? ‘

The subtitles were like this.’ A moment of confusion, ‘’a sense of humor,’ ‘days of mental anguish passing by like a revolving lantern.’

This is Ailit’s response.The members quickly exchanged eye contact with each other, which was read as ‘Someone has to clean up!’ amidst smiles that were tinged with embarrassment.Anyone who saw them become solemn for a moment would find it ‘funny’.

How was the past year? I think that could be answered by member Wonhee.”When practice doesn’t go as planned?” We’ve grown this much.


Reporter Heo Min- mignon@donga.com

This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.