Belift Lab, a HYBE subsidiary and the agency of the group ILLIT, has filed a lawsuit seeking damages amounting to 100 million won (about 67,800 USD) against the operator of “Team Bunnies,” a fandom group associated with NewJeans.
According to legal sources on the 15th, Belift Lab filed a civil lawsuit on the 11th with the Seoul Western District Court, seeking 100 million won in damages against an unidentified individual known to be a minor who operates Team Bunnies, as well as the operator’s parents, who are deemed to have a duty of supervision.
The lawsuit alleges that the defendant posted various false claims, including allegations that ILLIT plagiarized NewJeans, thereby damaging the reputations of both ILLIT and Belift Lab. The company is seeking compensation for business losses it claims resulted from these actions. The case has not yet been assigned to a judge.
Team Bunnies is a NewJeans fandom group that has been active mainly on X (formerly Twitter). When it began its activities in September last year, the group introduced itself as “a team made up of Bunnies who are actively working in various fields such as law, media, finance, culture, and the arts,” presenting itself as more than a typical fan community.
In November last year, Team Bunnies filed a criminal complaint against Belift Lab CEO Kim Tae Ho after he stated in a media interview that the planning concepts for ILLIT and NewJeans were “completely different.”
