NewJeans Accused of Plagiarism: Is it a HYBE Sabotage Attempt?

On May 12, an article accusing NewJeans’ new song, “Bubble Gum”, of plagiarism was published on the Korean news site “Sports Chosun”. The article in question referred to a YouTube video published on the 11th, where “Bubble Gum” was compared to the 1982 song “Easier Said Than Done”. 

Shortly after this article was published, various discussions surrounding NewJeans’ alleged plagiarism started to appear on Korean forums, sparking intense discussion. 

However, the same YouTube channel that made the original video pointed out that the similarity between the 2 songs actually came from a well-known tune called “Shakatak song”. 

Meanwhile, sampling is a common practice in the music industry, and “Bubble Gum” might have legally sampled the well-known “Shakatak song”, which has been used in multiple tracks in the past. 

Additionally, it was pointed out that since “Bubble Gum” has not been released on music platforms, so official credits and sampling details of the song have not been unveiled. 

Now, the original article regarding this issue and similar ones have been deleted. 

Amid the ongoing debate, however, attention was paid to the author of the Sports Chosun article – reporter Lee Yoo-na. In particular, it was discovered that the same reporter was behind various now-deleted articles in favor of HYBE in the HYBE-ADOR feud, including one that falsely accused Min Hee-jin of claiming BTS copied her. 

As a result, it was suspected that the new plagiarism issue targeting NewJeans is HYBE’s attempt at sabotage, angering netizens. 

Below are some comments from netizens: 

• They are really trying to get rid of NewJeans 
• HYBE’s media play really disgusts me 
• HYBE is trying to grasp at straws to take down NewJeans 
• Their intentions are so obvious it’s laughable, daring to make these claims. HYBE, can’t you just let ADOR go?
• I’m siding with NewJeans and Min Hee-jin

Source: theqoo, Alk, Krb