Shim Hyung-rae buys clothes for writer, including a CHANEL bag—Criticism pours in saying "Stop it now"

As it was revealed that comedian and film director Shim Hyung-rae gifted an expensive CHANEL bag to a YouTube writer, a debate has broken out online as scenes of him buying clothes again appeared. While attention was focused on Shim Hyung-rae's goodwill in opening his wallet to revitalize local market commerce, some viewers expressed discomfort at the writer's appearance of accepting the gifts naturally. With past scenes of the writer taking snacks from Shim Hyung-rae's house being mentioned again, the atmosphere is one of growing controversy surrounding the meaning of the gifts.

Recently, a video was released on the YouTube channel 'Young-gu TV' showing Shim Hyung-rae attending the Jayang-dong Beer Festival and touring the market. Visiting the market where performances were being held, he met merchants and visited various stores, contributing to the local commercial district through consumption. Regarding the reason for visiting the market, Shim Hyung-rae reminisced, "When I was young, coming to the market was so wonderful. The market was like a theme park back then." His intention was to revive the market imbued with childhood memories.

However, during the market visit, the scene of him buying clothes for the YouTube writer caught the viewers' attention. Shim Hyung-rae visited a clothing store that might be affected by stage noise and told the writer to pick out whatever clothes she wanted. The writer immediately pointed to a T-shirt and asked, "How about this?" and the price was 99,000 won. Upon hearing this, Shim Hyung-rae gave a joking reaction, saying, "You picked an expensive one. Just buy that one. Last time you bought a 20,000 won one, why are you buying a 90,000 won one today?" When the surrounding cast explained, "This place is originally expensive. It's a bit high-end," Shim Hyung-rae eventually paid for it readily.

In this process, the fact that the writer had previously been gifted a CHANEL bag was mentioned again. The writer boasted, "Among the things the director bought me, this is the most expensive since the CHANEL bag. The director bought me the CHANEL bag." When the cast asked where she keeps the gifted items, the writer replied, "I put them all on Karrot," drawing laughter. When Shim Hyung-rae said he would buy one for the PD as well, the PD replied, "I'm fine," but countered with, "Buy me a CHANEL bag too." Although the scene proceeded as lighthearted jokes, some viewers focused on the repetitive gift-giving scenes themselves.

The background of the criticism includes a previously released video of a visit to Shim Hyung-rae's house. At that time, the writer, who visited the home of Shim Hyung-rae, who has been living alone for 16 years, filled a shopping basket with snacks and chocolates stored in the pantry and took them away. As scenes of Shim Hyung-rae buying the writer's clothes continued every time they visited the market, some viewers pointed out that the writer seems to take the gifts for granted. However, it is difficult to conclude the actual relationship between the two or the background of the gift-giving based solely on the actions captured in the video.

Comment reactions were divided. Some netizens criticized with sentiments such as "What does it mean to put a CHANEL bag on Karrot?", "Shouldn't you keep boundaries even if it's a joke?", "It seems like they think of Shim Hyung-rae as a sugar daddy," and "I don't want to see the scenes of constantly taking things from him at his house and the market anymore." On the other hand, views emerged that the context of the friendly jokes between the cast and the production of the YouTube content should be considered. Since the scenes in the video do not show the entirety of their actual relationship, caution is needed against it spreading into one-sided criticism.

The reason this controversy is receiving more attention is that Shim Hyung-rae has publicly mentioned his past heyday and business failures. Appearing on MBN's 'Scoop World' last month, he reminisced about his heyday and stated, "I used to receive 80 million won for just one CF." He added that at that time, the market price of Hyundai Apartments in Apgujeong was 78 million won, and he filmed over 100 commercials. Regarding the appearance fee for the movie 'Young-gu and Ttaeng-chil', he said, "When Ahn Sung-ki hyung received 15 million won, I received 200 million won. It was a time when an apartment cost 5 million won."

However, his glamorous heyday did not lead to smooth financial success. Shim Hyung-rae confessed that after starting his business as a film director, he left behind 17.9 billion won in debt and was declared personally bankrupt in 2013. As it is known that the star who earned massive income in the past experienced business failure and financial difficulties, some viewers are reacting that he should save money while watching scenes of him buying gifts for people around him. However, in a situation where his current financial status cannot be specifically confirmed, it is impossible to judge his current spending capacity based solely on his past bankruptcy history.

This controversy is a case where attention is focused more on the balance of the relationship surrounding the gifts and the editing method of the content rather than the gifts themselves. It is difficult to know clearly from the video whether Shim Hyung-rae is giving gifts voluntarily or if the jokes exchanged between the cast are somewhat staged. However, when similar scenes are released repeatedly, viewers may accept them as expressions of a friendly relationship, or interpret them as one side enjoying excessive benefits. As the video, which started with the intention of helping the local market, unexpectedly turned into a gift controversy, interest in the relationship between Shim Hyung-rae and the writer continues.

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