YouTuber Tzuyang sees subscriber increase after ex-boyfriend's abusive behavior revealed

YouTuber Tzuyang received an influx of subscribers just a day after revealing that she suffered abuse and financial exploitation from her ex-boyfriend.

Mukbang YouTuber Tzuyang explains controversies surrounding her in a video on July 11. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

YouTuber Tzuyang received an influx of subscribers just a day after revealing that she suffered abuse and financial exploitation from her ex-boyfriend.

The mukbang (eating show) star's subscriber count increased by some 200,000 as of Friday.

Tzuyang's YouTube channel had 10.3 million subscribers as of 5 p.m. on Friday. When she initially revealed her past ordeals through a YouTube live stream on Thursday, her subscriber count was 10.1 million.

Tzuyang detailed her past on the live stream, saying that she suffered physical and mental abuse and threats from her ex-boyfriend for four years, during which he extorted more than 4 billion won ($2.9 million) from her.

Tzuyang's live stream has been viewed over 6.75 million times on YouTube as of 5 p.m. on Friday.

Comments supporting Tzuyang and calling for the punishment of her ex-boyfriend and other blackmailers were posted under the video, including demands such as, “Find all the blackmailers and send them to jail," and, “People who blackmail and humiliate others with their weaknesses should disappear."

Tzuyang’s live stream was a response to a video that another YouTube channel, HoverLab Inc., uploaded on Wednesday.

HoverLab Inc.’s video showed “cyber wrecker” YouTubers planning to extort money from Tzuyang by threatening to expose her past. “Cyber wrecker” is a derogatory term for YouTubers who post maliciously edited videos to insult and criticize celebrities or famous people.

"There has been no specific response [regarding the “cyber wrecker” YouTubers] from Tzuyang's side yet," lawyer Kim Tae-yeon — Tzuyang’s legal representative — said Friday on YTN Radio.

BY KIM MIN-YOUNG [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]