Mukbang YouTuber Tzuyang opens up about late ex's physical abuse, illegal filming, extortion
Trigger warning: This story deals with abuse and violence.
South Korean YouTuber Tzuyang opened up about her late ex-boyfriend's alleged physical abuse, illegal filming, and extortion.
The Korea Times reported that Tzuyang, Tzuyang, who has over 10 million subscribers and is known for her "mukbang' videos, made the revelation in a YouTube live broadcast titled "I Will Tell You Everything" on July 11.
Her broadcast was a response to the YouTube channel Garo Sero Institute, which claimed that YouTubers connected to "Cyber Wreckers," or those who engage in online harassment or defamation for money, had blackmailed her for tens of millions of won (at least P400,000) by threatening to leak illegally taken videos of her.
Tzuyang said she met her ex, Mr. A, when she was a university student.
"I tried to break up because he showed violent behavior," she said, "but he threatened to distribute an illegal video he had taken of me, so I couldn't leave him."
She accused Mr. A of assaulting her with umbrellas and blunt objects.
She was also forced to work temporarily at the bar where he was employed.
"Whenever I wanted to quit, he would use violence and threaten to reveal information to my family, so I couldn't stand up to him," she said.
This was the time when Tzuyang started her mukbang channel, which shows her eating copious amounts of food, to earn money.
"Even though I earned some money from the broadcasts, he took all of it, leaving me without enough money to buy even a chicken meal," she said.
When Tzuyang's channel became successful, she said Mr. A created an agency and forced her into an unfair contract of splitting the earnings 70 to 30 in his favor.
She endured the arrangement for four years and with the help of agency employees, she was able to cut ties with Mr. A.
"However, he then started threatening my family and the employees, and fabricated stories to spread to other YouTubers," she said, adding that she filed a lawsuit against him.
Tzuyang's lawyers appeared at the end of her broadcast, explaining the case and presenting evidence of the assaults and threats.
Her lawyers said she filed multiple lawsuits against Mr. A, including claims for unpaid earnings amounting to at least 4 billion won (P169 million), termination of her exclusive contract, and opposition to trademark registration.
She also filed criminal charges for habitual assault and sexual violence.
"Tzuyang's suffering was immense, and the evidence is extensive. There are 3,800 audio files containing the details of her victimization," her lawyer Kim Tae-yeon said.
After the initial lawsuit, Mr. A reached an agreement leading to its withdrawal. However, his violation of the agreement led to a second lawsuit.
The second lawsuit was then dismissed without charges or prosecution due to Mr. A's death.