SM Entertainment Faces Yet Another Plagiarism Accusation for Aespa’s Inkigayo Performance

Following the performance of Aespa on Inkigayo, another virtual artist claimed that the art team behind the motifs of the girl group had plagiarized her work.

On Nov. 22, SM Entertainment's rookie group Aespa appeared on SBS's Inkigayo to perform their debut single "Black Mamba." The stage set features plants and trees with fairy lights of different colors. Pyramids can also be noticed on the platform as well as on the ceiling.

While viewers usually don't give attention to the stage set but to the performers, an LA-based virtual artist recently mainly took note of the setup. It turns out that Aespa's art team might have plagiarized her work.

On Nov. 27, the virtual artist took to Twitter to share a photo of Aespa's performance on Inkigayo along with one of her art creations side to side. In her tweet, she expressed that she felt uncomfortable after seeing the similarities between her work, which was published on Oct. 6, and the girl group's stage setup.

 
Also, on her Instagram, she uploaded the same pictures and added a caption, "truly upset to see my work so blatantly plagiarized by SM. I've wanted to be hired to work with K-pop artists so long, alas theft came first."

This is the third time that someone from another country outside of Asia has compared her work with SM Entertainment. Previously, a Toronto-based photographer spoke up about how the photos he captured and were released in June 2019 are significantly similar to the teaser images of Aespa. While he didn't directly accuse the label and the girl group of plagiarism, he made an Instagram story that reads. "This is why I only stan BLACKPINK!"

Besides the teaser images, the video teaser for Aespa's "Black Mamba" was also claimed to be copied from an art director and the virtual K-pop girl group K/DA. In the clip, there is a scene where Aespa members are standing on a subway train with grass and flowers. A huge snake can also be seen slithering across the train. Right after seeing this, Timo Helgert took to his Instagram story to compare his works and that of SM's.

RELATED: Aespa, Plagiarized? Compare Art Director's Images on Supposed Pinterest Account to Teaser Photos

In addition, some fans noticed that several scenes from Aespa's "Black Mamba" MV teaser are similar to the parts found in the MV for K/DA's "POP/STAR." They pointed out that both videos feature a subway train, neon color scheme, and graffiti.

Up to now, SM Entertainment has not yet responded to the previous claims. Now, another virtual artist has once again accused them of plagiarism.

Meanwhile, rookie group Aespa promotes their debut single "Black Mamba" in various music shows. On Nov. 26, the song took the No. 100 spot on the Billboard Global chart, becoming the highest-ranking debut song of a K-Pop act. Moreover, the views of the track's music video continue to rise. As of Nov. 27, the MV has now reached 57 million views. And recently, the practice video of the song was uploaded on Aespa's official YouTube channel.

Watch Aespa's dance practice video for "Black Mamba" below!

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Written by Mhaliya S.

Tags
SM Entertainment
plagiarism
Rookie Group
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