Was The Influencer's winner OKING paid the promised prize money? Netflix issues statement

On Wednesday, August 21, Netflix released a statement announcing why The Influencer's winner, OKING, was not paid his promised prize money. The YouTuber, with over two million subscribers, participated in Netflix's recent social media reality survival show, The Influencer.

He eventually won the show, which promised a prize money of 300 million won. However, it was reported that the influencer was not paid the promised money due to his alleged breach of confidentiality, which was necessary when the YouTuber signed a contract with the show and Netflix.

In a statement to Star News on August 21, Netflix said that to "maintain the credibility of the program," it didn't pay the show's winner.

"Keeping related information secret before the release of work is an important device to ensure that the hard work and effort of everyone who participated in the creation bears fruit and to fully deliver the intended fun of the work to the viewers. This is also a promise between all the production staff and cast members who wish for the success of the work," the statement read.

"In order to maintain the credibility of the program and fairness among the cast members, the prize money was not paid to the winner of 'The Influencer' who violated the confidentiality obligations stipulated in the appearance contract," it further said.

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All you need to know about The Influencer's winner OKING and his controversy

The Influencer is a social media reality survival show produced by Netflix which brought together 77 contestants. The participants included some of the most influential online personalities in South Korea, ranging from TikTokers, YouTubers, Instagram influencers, and more.

They were made to compete against one another through a series of tests to prove themselves as the most influential personality based on likes, followers, interactions, and more. The winner was promised a grand prize of 300 million won. While OKING bagged the spot as The Influncer's winner and most influential person, he couldn't receive the prize money due to the cryptocurrency controversy he was involved in.

OKING was named as one of the founders of WINNERZ, a cryptocurrency agency that was revealed to have scammed people. However, OKING claimed that he wasn't a part of the scam and that he was a victim of WINNERZ's illegal strategies.

He subsequently sued WINNERZ for violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment for fraud and coercion. Following the controversy, the YouTuber stopped broadcasting and only returned to his channel in May 2024. However, soon after his return, the WINNERZ CEO responded to his lawsuit by allegedly exposing the YouTuber.

The WINNERZ CEO released a long message directed towards the YouTuber through his social media accounts. In that long message, it was also included that the YouTuber was the winner of The Influencer.

“OKING is not attacking Winners simply to make money. The winner of ‘The Influencer’ is Oking.”

Since this spoiler breached the YouTuber's confidentiality agreement with Netflix, the streaming platform announced that it would not be sending him the promised prize money to compensate for the losses that Netflix and The Influencer's team faced.