Belift Lab, the HYBE subsidiary that manages the girl group ILLIT, has filed a lawsuit seeking hundreds of millions of won in damages against the operator of the NewJeans fan account known as “Team Bunnies.”
Belift Lab filed the suit on December 11th at the Seoul Western District Court, demanding 100 million won ($71,000), according to legal sources on December 15th. The defendants named are the unidentified operator of the account and their parents, who hold legal responsibility for their supervision.
Belift Lab alleges that “Team Bunnies” damaged the reputations of both the agency and the group ILLIT by spreading false claims online. Specifically, the lawsuit cites accusations made by the account that ILLIT plagiarized NewJeans’ concept, arguing that these posts caused significant business losses.
“Team Bunnies” has been primarily active on X (formerly Twitter). When the account launched in September of last year, it described itself as “a team of NewJeans fans actively working in various fields such as law, media, finance, culture and arts,” suggesting an organized operation beyond a typical fan account.
However, the account operator revealed a surprising truth following a police investigation into illegal fundraising last month, saying, “Team Bunnies is a one-person organization operated by a single minor member.”
The legal battle follows months of tension. Last November, “Team Bunnies” filed a criminal complaint against Belift Lab CEO Kim Tae Ho after he denied plagiarism allegations in a media interview. The fan account claimed to possess internal project proposals proving the similarities.
However, the legal ground for these plagiarism claims weakened recently when a court ruled in a separate contract dispute involving NewJeans that “it is difficult to recognize that ILLIT copied NewJeans’ concept.”
The minor operator of “Team Bunnies” has also faced legal trouble for violating fundraising laws. The account raised over 50 million won ($35,000) online, purportedly to take legal action against malicious comments targeting NewJeans, but failed to register the fundraiser with authorities.
The account posted an update on the case on November 17th, stating, “The Seoul Family Court recognized the ‘use for a good purpose’ and the ‘appropriateness of usage details,’ and the case was concluded in early September with Protective Disposition No. 1.” This disposition, the lowest level of protective measure for juveniles, typically involves entrusting the minor to the care of a guardian.
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