ADOR has responded after NewJeans members, the agency, and HYBE were named in a plagiarism lawsuit connected to the girl group’s 2024 song “How Sweet.” Billboard reported on May 8, 2026, that songwriters Audrey Armacost, Aidan Rodriguez, Adam Gokcebay, and Michael Campanelli filed the lawsuit over alleged similarities between the 2024 track and a demo called “One of a Kind” made by the four mentioned
According to the report, Armacost received an instrumental track from her publisher in January 2024 and was invited to submit topline lyrics and melody for possible use by the NewJeans members. The four songwriters said they wrote and recorded “One of a Kind” over that instrumental and sent it for consideration. They were later told the demo had not been selected. However, after “How Sweet” was released four months later, they claimed they noticed parts that sounded similar to the work they had made for the then quintet.
In the lawsuit, the songwriters said the first verse of “How Sweet” is similar to the first verse of their demo in both amount and quality. They also shared similar musical details, including 4/4 meter, the key of B flat minor, and a topline with an eight-bar, 31-note melodic sequence. On May 9, 2026, HYBE’s ADOR responded to the claims, saying they checked with BANA, the team responsible for composing and producing the song. According to ADOR, BANA’s position is that no plagiarism took place. The agency said they and the NewJeans members will respond based on that position.
Read their statement below:
“Upon checking with BANA (Beasts And Natives Alike), who were responsible for composing and producing this song, their position is that there was no plagiarism involved. ADOR and the [NewJeans] members plan to respond to the lawsuit in accordance with BANA’s stance [on the allegations].”
