Taiwanese singer Elaine Ho apologises for plagiarising IU's 'Palette' music video

Elaine Ho has been called out by fans for plagiarism. Photo: YouTube

Taiwanese singer Elaine Ho has come under fire for allegedly plagiarising K-Pop singer IU in her latest music video.

On the April 16, Ho uploaded the music video for her single, To Love or Not. Immediately, fans began to comment on the similarities between Ho’s music video and the video for IU’s 2017 song, Palette.

One Instagram user then put together frame-by-frame comparisons of the two videos, pointing out the various stylistic and cinematographic choices which they deemed too similar to be coincidental. The backlash was swift – netizens commented that Ho “should be ashamed”.

Lee Rae-kyung, who directed IU’s Palette, also responded in an Instagram story, stating: “I have received many reports about my music video being plagiarised. If the viewers know, that is enough for me. Thank you for all your consideration and support.”

To make matters worse, netizens uncovered a behind-the-scenes production video which revealed that Ho and director Daniel Chen were watching Palette while shooting To Love Or Not.

Despite this, Ho stood her ground. On an Instagram live she hosted on April 19, Ho said she was not worried of any legal consequences despite the accusations against her. She also encouraged her fans to “wash away” the comments from her detractors by posting new comments in order to bury older ones.

In the end, however, the pressure proved to be too much for Ho and Chen. The director admitted that he had directly referenced Palette.

While Ho herself has not addressed the allegations of plagiarism, she posted an apology on Instagram.

“I was feeling upset; my intention was to produce a good musical work for everyone, but it ended in turmoil and drama. I am very sorry. In the future, I will be more careful with my words and actions, ” she wrote.