Korea Grandma loses subscribers due to controversy over granddaughter's fiancé

YouTuber Park Mak-rye, right, and her granddaughter Kim Yu-ra on Park's Instagram [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Popular YouTuber Park Mak-rye, better known by her handle Korea Grandma, lost 30,000 subscribers over the weekend after inappropriate social media posts by her granddaughter’s fiancé surfaced.

Her granddaughter Kim Yu-ra was also well-loved by Park’s fans as she managed her grandmother’s YouTube channel.

On June 25, Kim’s boyfriend announced on his social media that he proposed to Kim and the two are now engaged to be married. Kim’s boyfriend is the head of a clothing company and is 42 years old, nine years Kim’s senior.

But as news about their engagement broke, past T-shirts and social media posts made by Kim’s fiancé came under fire. In a 2015 collection titled “fuxxxxx summer” that he released in collaboration with another artist, a T-shirt features a graphic illustration that netizens accuse of suggesting gang rape.

He has also posted photos of female models and K-pop idol singers in revealing clothing on his Instagram account.

Park’s main fan base, mostly women in their 20s and 30s, expressed disappointment after the controversy surfaced. Kim responded via Discord on Sunday.

“My boyfriend’s works and posts from eight years ago have become a problem,” Kim wrote. “I’m not trying to defend him. […] The screen captures of women in revealing clothing were mostly from fashion magazines. I think he posted the ones of girl group members because he thought it was witty back then. But now, he is well aware it’s no longer an era in which we can post or think of stuff like that.”

“I met him after such era had all passed,” she continued. “I know he is someone who shouldn’t be judged just by those images.”

Kim’s response only backfired. Park’s YouTube subscriber count dropped from 1.36 million to 1.33 million between Friday and Monday morning.

Some comments under Park’s videos bid her farewell.

“Grandma, you’re my role model and I’m a fan of yours, but I’m also on the side of other women. It’s sad, but goodbye,” reads one of the top comments.

Some netizens claim that the backlash is an overreaction.

“It’s true that Kim’s fiancé is problematic, but why talk about that in Park’s comment section?” one person posted on Twitter.

Park, now 75 years old, rose to fame after she became a YouTuber at the age of 71 with the help of her granddaughter. Her YouTube channel Korea Grandma has been introduced on the New York Times and other foreign media outlets.

BY HALEY YANG [yang.hyunjoo@joongang.co.kr]