Comedian Kim Yeong-hee opened up about painful memories, including family issues she experienced before and after marriage and a period of estrangement from her mother.
On the 17th, the MBN variety show "Sokpuri Show Dongchimi" aired an episode in which honest family stories were shared under the theme "Is mom a pushover?" On that day, Kim Yeong-hee recalled her wedding period and said, "That was the most desperate time of my life," beginning to speak.
Kim Yeong-hee confessed, "I got married while I was taking a long break from broadcasting. My circumstances were so bad that I wondered if we could hold a wedding. Fortunately, more people attended than expected, so we barely held the ceremony with the congratulatory money. My husband and I also took out a youth loan to prepare our newlywed home. I was that desperate."
However, conflicts with her mother deepened during the wedding preparations. Kim Yeong-hee said, "My mother did not contribute a single won to the wedding costs. Out of stubbornness I asked, 'Please just buy me a rice cooker,' and she said she could buy it but not right now." But after more congratulatory money came in than expected, the situation changed.
She revealed, "My mother called and said, 'Give me any congratulatory money that comes in under my name.' I fought with my mother so much while preparing for the wedding that I wondered if she was my birth mother. In the end I gave it to her as she asked."
The conflict did not end there. Kim Yeong-hee said, "Recently my younger brother got married, and my mother subtly said, 'I gave all the congratulatory money to your brother,'" adding, "I was exhausted from traveling for regional performances, paying off debts, and dealing with my own health. That comment finally made me explode."
She continued, "I shouted at my mother, 'Isn't my money money?' and 'I am sick too.' Then I declared, 'Let's not meet,' and cut ties." Kim Yeong-hee said, "I was the one who used to leave my child with her, but it reached a point where I could not even leave my daughter. After cutting ties, I sometimes wondered, 'Why did I do that?'" conveying her complicated feelings at the time.
She cut off contact with her mother for about 20 days and even told her brother, "Let me know when mom passes away," an extreme remark. That shows how deeply hurt she felt. Later, her mother sent an apology through her brother, but another wound remained.
Kim Yeong-hee said, "Even when my mother apologized, she called me 'cold.' She even called my husband and said, 'You are cold too,'" she said. Still, she added, "After ups and downs, we have reconciled now," summarizing the complicated mother-daughter relationship.
Meanwhile, after passing the KBS open audition for comedians, Kim Yeong-hee effectively served as the main breadwinner and supported her household. But she was deeply hurt by the so-called "debt controversy" that surfaced in 2018. At the time, online claims emerged that Kim Yeong-hee's mother had borrowed money from an acquaintance in the past and not repaid it, and Kim Yeong-hee was also subjected to malicious comments.
According to later revealed facts, the debt in question was related to funds for her father's business, not Kim Yeong-hee. In 2022, Kim Yeong-hee appeared on "Dongchimi" and expressed her grievance, saying, "I didn't owe money, but when the incident blew up I became someone who lied."
[Photo] OSEN DB, broadcast capture
[OSEN]