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Lee Sang-min, on suspicion of ‘debt cosplay’, “Expensive shoes gift and sponsorship…my only hobby”

picture explanationLee Sang-min. Photo|Star Today DB

Broadcaster Lee Sang-min, who was engulfed in controversy over ‘debt cosplay’, opened up about the suspicion of coin investment, the suspicion of his mother’s hospital expenses, and the controversy over expensive shoes.

On the 30th, on the YouTube channel ‘Entertainment President Lee Jin-ho’, ‘Expensive shoes? Mother’s hospital bills? A video titled ‘I asked Lee Sang-min directly’ was posted. Lee Jin-ho said, “I contacted Lee Sang-min directly and heard about it. We ask for your understanding that we have not made an official interview request, so we are conveying this through text rather than voiceover.”

First, Lee Sang-min mentioned the controversy over her mother’s hospital expenses. Lee Sang-min previously said that her mother’s hospital bills cost more than 10 million won per month in the SBS entertainment ‘Shoes off, Dolls for Man’.

Lee Sang-min said, “It’s true that my mother worked in insurance for a long time and bought a lot of insurance. Her mother was first diagnosed with blood cancer, after which she suffered a brain hemorrhage. She said that she had to cure blood cancer first, so that she could also cure brain hemorrhage, so she took her to a hospital in Gangnam, and most of the 30 insurances her mother bought were ineffective. He explained, “I went to an insurance company and bought insurance that paid a lot of money, so there was practically no insurance that I could claim for,” he explained.

He continued, “I had no choice but to cancel the insurance because I only received insurance that had to be renewed when I turned 80. The money received after the termination of the contract was around 20 million won,” he said. Fortunately, he finished the treatment for blood cancer in one year and six months, and was discharged from the hospital after undergoing brain surgery. Her mother now has paralysis on her right side and goes to the hospital to fix her paralysis. Because there is no insurance, the hospital bill is currently less than 10 million won,” he said.

Photo|Capture of Lee Jin-ho, the president of the entertainment industry

picture explanationPhoto|Capture of Lee Jin-ho, the president of the entertainment industry

He also revealed suspicions about coin investment. Earlier, Lee Sang-min said on ‘Dolsing for Man’ on the 16th, “Tak Jae-hoon recommended a coin to me, but now it’s minus 70%. Jaehoon told me to buy a house when his older brother rises 8 times.” Since then, it has been pointed out that coin investment is inappropriate in a situation where there is a debt of about 1.3 billion won.

Lee Sang-min said, “It is true that Tak Jae-hoon said to buy a house when it rises 8 times. Tak Jae-hoon, who recommended Coin, said it on the air because it was funny. He did not know about the coin, and it is true that he bought the coin about 8 million won. There was talk that he should invest a lot of money, but he had no room for mind or money because he was in a position of bankruptcy once.”

In addition, Lee Sang-min clarified the suspicion of having 400 pairs of shoes, including expensive shoes worth 10 million won, called ‘G-Dragon shoes’.

Lee Sang-min said, “The beginning was a fan’s sickness. I received about 100 pairs as a gift from a fan. He said that he no longer had to send me shoes. It may sound full, but that was the driving force for the broadcast. It is true that the recently released shoes were purchased directly. However, expensive shoes are products sent to me as a sponsorship concept by a company that I know as a shoe fanatic and that I wear them on TV every time.”

“Actually, I was a little scared,” he said. A lot of people understand and like my pitiful situation, but if you wear expensive shoes like this, you have no choice but to be prejudiced. But it’s not my drinking style, and shoes and clothes are my only hobbies. It may be an excuse, but I cut down on the cost of the stylist, so I’m doing my own styling, and I’m saving that money to buy it as cheaply as possible. I think I solved it this way because it was mentally difficult in many ways. At some point, the shoes became a jinx for me and gave me a personal opportunity to work harder on the show.”

Lee Jin-ho, who conveyed Lee Sang-min’s position, said, “It is difficult to confirm what Lee Sang-min said through data. I thought it would be better for viewers to listen and judge for themselves, so I delivered Lee Sang-min’s words as they were.”

Previously, YouTuber Lee Jin-ho said, ‘Shock alone!! Through a video titled ‘Checking Lee Sang-min’s Real Debt’, he said, “I have been repaying Lee Sang-min’s debt by paying off the debt of a creditor who has a small amount, but there are cases where I have to pay off debts that shouldn’t have been paid or the amount of debt increases.” He also reported that Lee Sang-min’s debt increased from 900 million won to 1.7 billion won as of last year.

Lee Sang-min has recently been caught up in allegations of ‘debt cosplay’ and has been at the center of controversy.

Sitting in a debt pile of 6.9 billion won due to continued business failure in 2005, after returning to broadcasting, he showed how he was paying off his debts and at the same time showing a sad appearance, creating the character ‘Gong Sang-min’.

However, as it became known that he had moved to a house on the second floor with a monthly rent of 2 million won, and that he had a collection of over 400 pairs of luxury shoes, controversy arose over whether he was doing ‘debt cosplay’. In a broadcast last year, he said, “I paid off almost all my debts and I have about 900 million won left.”

In response, Lee Sang-min indirectly explained this on the 27th in SBS ‘My Little Old Boy’ by showing the creditor consultation data and a safe full of debt documents.

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