BLACKPINK And EXO Entangled In Viral Plagiarism Scandal

EXO is facing controversy over their latest teaser poster, which netizens say looks almost identical to BLACKPINK’s 8th anniversary poster from last year.

The controversy began after comparisons between EXO’s September 8 comeback teaser and BLACKPINK’s August 2024 anniversary poster blew up on Pann. The post quickly hit over 26,000 views.

Fans point out both images use an eclipse-style design with light spilling around the edges. While the concept itself isn’t unique, many say the angle, composition, and style feel way too close to ignore.

Here’s EXO’s teaser from SM Entertainment:

And BLACKPINK’s anniversary poster from YG Entertainment:

The backlash is growing, with netizens calling out SM for a lack of originality and accusing them of copying. Some fans say EXO’s tweaks to the design were minimal and “cheap.”

Comments from Pann include:

“No, seriously, they just straight-up copied this LOL”

“LMAO I can’t wait to see what kind of excuses people come up with to defend this”

“SM being SM, as usual.”

“The way they just changed the color and flipped the direction makes it look so cheap lol”

“It is true that the overall setup is common, but the way the light spreads was specifically used to represent EXO, one side has the light extending, the other has it shorter. Still, the images look almost identical no matter how you look at it. Whether it’s the worldbuilding or deeper meaning, I think it just leaves people feeling disappointed.”

Fans continue to debate the issue across social media, sharing side-by-side images and weighing in on originality in K-pop visuals.

No official response from SM Entertainment has surfaced yet as the discussion heats up online.