3rd-Gen Girl Group Idol Seemingly Supports Accusations Against KATSEYE

A senior K-Pop girl group idol recently stirred up controversy on social media after allegedly calling out HYBE’s global girl group KATSEYE.

The issue at hand began with the teaser for KATSEYE’s upcoming song, “Animal.” When the group’s social media account posted a snippet of the five active members dancing to the song’s chorus, it quickly drew millions of views, sparking varied reactions from netizens.

KATSEYE danced to ‘ANIMAL’ in a newly shared video. pic.twitter.com/k4OgwOe8g7

— KATSEYE B✶SE (@KATSEYEBASE) July 24, 2026

One major response to the chorus was that many people found the tune similar to a previous K-Pop release—“Devil” by CLC.

this is literally just devil by clc likeeee that choreo too 😭😭😭 clc paved the way fr pic.twitter.com/jRQFRH6zNt

— L ♡ (@yujinyunjin) July 25, 2026

The comparison between the two songs soon flooded social media platforms, though KATSEYE fans insisted that any accusation of plagiarism was unfounded and unlikely, given that “Animal” was written by Ed Sheeran, an artist who probably isn’t as fluent in K-Pop releases.

Yall really think ed sheeran went and searched for whoever this grp is to copy from ???
I know yall hate hybe ggs but its getting to a point

— Rosalit🦔 (@yunjin_doll) July 25, 2026

the concept of ed sheeran plagiarizing clc to sell the song to hybe

— j***e (@seonwoominovio) July 26, 2026

However, this debate took an unexpected turn when fans noticed that Sorn, a member of CLC, had reposted a video comparing the two songs side by side.

Sorn liking and reposting a post comparing CLC’s Devil and Animal 😭 pic.twitter.com/DKo3WLDhVj

— ִ࣪𖤐 𝓖𝓮𝓶 ᗢ 🫧🫟 (@cheshire_gem) July 25, 2026

Though Sorn didn’t specify her intention, many saw the repost as her direct support of the claims that the KATSEYE release was “copied” from her group’s song. This, in turn, brought her both backlash and support.

sorn wants the clc royalties pic.twitter.com/Yn91n1FHOw

— alixson (@clcskz) July 25, 2026

Jealousy is a disease

— kii (@miyughki) July 25, 2026

her group is on an 11th anniversary tour that’s making no noise so she has to use katseye to gain some traction

— ᴍᴀʀɪᴇ – #Ԝ𝖨𝖫𝖣 (@mariemochii) July 25, 2026

sorn is so messy for this 😭😭

— ash (@ash1re_) July 26, 2026

Meanwhile, KATSEYE’s “Animal” was released on July 24 and has received mixed reactions from netizens.

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