KISS OF LIFE 'SWEAT' plagiarism claims rebutted by filming dates and choreography timeline

KISS OF LIFE dropped their third single SWEAT on July 4. Turkish girl group AURA followed with TUZAK on July 10, and the visual similarities between the two music videos quickly drew plagiarism accusations aimed at KISS OF LIFE.

But the dates tell a different story. A slate from the TUZAK set lists director Ramadan Arslankaya and cinematographer Kaan Öztürk with '03.07.26' — July 3, 2026, the day before SWEAT even released. The SWEAT MV had been filmed in Korea during the first and second weeks of June. Choreography was already completed in May.

The members have spoken about where the concept came from. In an interview with HanterNews published July 29, member Nati said: "When I heard 'SWEAT', I imagined a picture of dancing on sand under a sunset on a summer night, so I came up with the idea." Member Bella described the image of dancing barefoot on sand beneath a sunset as "something we directly drew and came up with," and noted the group contributed heavily during both filming and performance preparation.

KISS OF LIFE had their choreography locked before AURA's MV even started shooting. The production record stands as the clearest counter to the plagiarism claims circulating online.