Asian Boss

Asian Boss is a YouTube channel, founded in 2013, which discusses various issues related to Asia.[2]

Asian Boss
YouTube information
Channel
Created by
    • Stephen Park
    • Kei Ibaraki
LocationSeoul, South Korea
Years active2013–present
Genre
    • current issues
    • social commentary
    • documentary
Subscribers3.42 million[1]
Total views627.30 million[1]
Websitehttps://asianboss.io/
Last updated: 13 Jul 2022

History

Asian Boss was founded in 2013 by Stephen Park, a former corporate lawyer, and Kei Ibaraki, a former architect, after they witnessed the "growing divide" in society. Neither of them had video editing experience at the time and they studied by watching tutorials on YouTube.

According to Park, many of the videos were demonetized by YouTube for being politically sensitive, and they relied on investors to fund their operations.[3]

In a 2019 interview, Ibaraki noted that since there was significant bias in the media on certain topics, the channel would stay as neutral as possible to allow the subjects to speak freely, and would go to great lengths to find respondents with opposing opinions.[2] The channel is targeted to an English-speaking global audience interested in Asia, and 30 percent of its views came from the United States.[2]

In 2020, The Japan Times named Asian Boss as an example of overseas-based YouTube channels which attempt to gain real insight into the lives and opinions of Japanese people.[4]

In January 2021, Park revealed in a video that the channel was close to shutting down, as many of their investors have gone out of business, and announced the channel's GoFundMe page,[5][3] which has a funding goal of $700,000. As of February 4, 2021 more than $745,000 in donations has been received.[3][6]

Controversies

In 2019, the channel released a video interviewing the people of Beijing on whether actor Simu Liu was "too ugly" to portray superhero Shang-Chi in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which would be released in 2021. Liu responded to the video by calling it a "very teachable moment" about facing rejection and doubt of others, and suggested that the channel should tackle topics with "more journalistic and creative integrity" in the future. The video has since been removed from YouTube.[7][8] In January 2021 a Filipino actor of the Korean TV series Squid Game complained in a video of Asian Boss about discrimination in Korea.[9]

In 2022, Taiwan News reported that the outlet attempted to pre-screen street interviewees in Ximending, Taipei for Kuomintang viewpoints after obtaining enough interviews from the perspective of the Democratic Progressive Party.[10]

References
  1. "About Asian Boss". YouTube.
  2. Lukman, Josa (November 5, 2019). "Kei Ibaraki: Busting Asian stereotypes by the upload". The Jakarta Post. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
  3. Tan, Joycelyn (January 26, 2021). "Asian Boss Turns To Crowdfunding After These 3 Factors Led To Their Potential Shutdown". vulcanpost.com. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
  4. Michel, Patrick St (March 7, 2020). "YouTube content that attempts to find real Japanese opinions". The Japan Times. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
  5. Angela Donato (January 25, 2021). "Global Media Company Asian Boss Is In Danger Of Shutting Down". The Beacon. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
  6. Grace Kim (March 15, 2021). "NextShark: 'I failed as a leader': Asian Boss Founder Reveals Nearly Half of Remaining Employees Resigned". news.yahoo.com. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
  7. Kimberly Yam (August 12, 2019). "Simu Liu Responds To Critics Who Claim He's 'Too Ugly' To Play Shang-Chi". HuffPost. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
  8. Christian Fußy (August 19, 2019). "Zu hässlich fürs MCU? "Shang Chi"-Star kommentiert bescheuerte YouTube-Umfrage mit ordentlich Stil". filmstarts.de (in German). Retrieved June 24, 2022.
  9. "Filipino actor in 'Squid Game' reflects on discrimination experienced in Korea". The Korea Times. January 11, 2021. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
  10. Everington, Keoni (January 12, 2022). "Asian Boss accused of seeking pro-KMT viewpoints for Taiwan street interviews". Taiwan News. Retrieved May 10, 2022.


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