"I thought it was a standard move": Netizens on fence whether Street Man Fighter crew WDBZ's Vata plagiarized International choreographer or not

Mnet’s currently ongoing reality show Street Man Fighter’s WDBZ crew member Vata has been accused of plagiarism.

The allegations stem from Vata's choreography for the song New Thing by ZICO. During the latest segment of the show, the show's contestants were tasked with creating an original piece of choreography for the song. Dancers were grouped by rank and then chose one choreography to perform, with the best dancer chosen as the group's main dancer.

WDBZ leader Vata was chosen to represent his group and performed the main choreography.

However, controversy erupted when netizens noticed that the beginning of the choreography was similar to a previously released choreography. Despite the fact that the intro was a minor part of the choreography that was eventually cut from the music video, fans chastised the dancer for including it in the original choreography.

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Netizens have been scrutinizing WDBZ's choreography since plagiarism allegations

The introduction to the choreography, according to netizens was too similar to previous choreography made by famous choreographer Anze Skrube, who has previously worked with popular artists such as Prince, Chris Brown, and Usher, as well as K-Pop idols ATEEZ.

The plagiarized choreography in question was created for ATEEZ's song Say My Name.

Anze Skrube's dance video has since gone viral, lending credence to the plagiarism accusations.

Many netizens claimed that a similar dance in a viral post on one of Korea's largest online communities was plagiarism. Since the allegations, the choreography has been met with intense scrutiny by fans who have been critiquing Vata and WDBZ for pulling such a low move. Some of the comments on Naver include:

"Vata's choreography for 'Ssaebbing' had a point choreography with the motorcycle dance move. However, a foreign choreographer created the exact same choreography and posted it on YouTube several years ago.”

“They're both dragging their feet left and right with the same hand on the waist and the other hand extended. This cannot be a coincidence.”

“WDBZ is slamming others for the most insignificant parts that look even remotely similar, but they get a pass for copying another choreography?"

While many believe what WDBZ did was plagiarism, many are still on the fence about whether it counts as copying if only a certain segment was similar in both choreographies. Individuals mentioned:

"I thought it was a standard (well, not standard, but you know, done before) funny move? That's why I was unimpressed by his choreography, because it was nothing out of the ordinary. I don't think anyone would think he made it up."

"There's also similar ateez choreography (say my name is the song) - I just figured it's a trendy move but not really plagiarism."

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More about Street Man Fighter

This is not the first time the reality show has come under fire. On August 23, Street Man Fighter held a press conference during which Chief Producer (CP) Kwon Young Chan compared the show to its original female counterpart, Street Woman Fighter.

He said:

"If there was jealousy and greed in the survival [program] for female dancers, I think the male dancers demonstrated a lot of loyalty and pride."

The producer’s comment led to a lot of backlash from fans, with Mnet ultimately releasing a statement.