TL;DR – Some netizens are convinced that the YouTuber seems to be asking for help in her videos.
Mukbang, which loosely translates to “eating broadcast”, refers to an interesting form of entertainment in which a person sits down and devours a ton of food on camera. Originated in South Korea, this online sensation began in 2014 and has since been practiced across the world.
Recently, a particular YouTuber has recently caused a stir among netizens who started trending #SaveKateYup.
Who is Kate Yup?
Kate Yup, a YouTube vlogger who has been on the video-sharing site since March 2018.
She is known for sharing clips of herself wolfing down abnormal quantities of seafood at a quick pace.
Currently, she has over 508,000 subscribers on YouTube.
It seems that netizens are caught up in conspiracy theories that the YouTuber might in possible danger after noticing some strange signs in her video.
Visible bruises
On 21 June 2019, Kate Yup uploaded a video on her YouTube channel and in which, some eagle-eyed netizens spotted numerous bruises on her arm and on her lip.
This caused netizens to believe that the YouTuber might have been caught in an abusive situation.
According to netizens, the common theory around this is that the YouTuber is being held captive by someone, and this person has been abusing her, starving her and forcing her to do eating broadcast for money – which is probably why she always seems to be oddly hungry, devouring food with no breaks in between.
This theory came about after Yup started eating unusually fast at mark 4:51 of the video, when the table “moved”, as though someone kicked it.
Others even claimed that they could hear someone shouting “I’ll kill you” at 12:48 mark of the video.
Morse Code
In the same video, netizens discovered an action that the YouTuber has never done before.
While eating halfway, Yup began tapping her fingers against the rim of the bowl, which netizens picked it up as Morse code. When decoded, netizens find that the message reads: “I need help.”
You may refer to the video below, at the 5:36 mark:
S.O.S
Another cue from the same video which sparked suspicion among netizens is the subtitles at 17:37 mark of the video.
The highlighted letters in her subtitle seem to form the word “S.O.S”, which is a signal which indicates to other people that you are in danger and need help.
All these abnormal signs from the YouTuber have led netizens to believe that she’s being abducted and held captive by someone. Many also believe that the reason why Yup doesn’t talk and has always been wearing a blindfold in her videos is so that no one will be able to recognize her.
YouTuber Kate Yup responds
In response to all these conspiracy theories, Yup left a pinned comment on that video.
However, netizens are not quite convinced.
Many took note of the use of third-person pronouns and suspected that someone else had gotten hold of the YouTube account and had commented there in an attempt to stop all speculations from flying.
To make things creepier, Yup later uploaded another video, titled “I AM ALIVE.”
In her captions, Yup capitalized a few letters.
Whether it is coincidence or not, those letters form the word, HELP.
Could Kate Yup be Karlie Guse who mysteriously disappeared?
Karlie Guse is a California teen who mysteriously disappeared during the early morning of Saturday, October 13, 2018. Since her disappearance, her family has offered a USD $10,000 reward for information that leads to the safe return of the 16-year-old teen.
Unfortunately, to date, there are still no leads in the case of Missing Karlie Guse.
But when the internet community began trending #SaveKateYup worldwide on social media, Guse’s disappearance has once again come under the spotlight.
Netizens who saw Guse’s missing person appeal and Yup’s video are beginning to suspect that Guse might possibly be the viral YouTuber, after putting two and two together.
Some also pointed out that the resemblance between the two girls is uncanny – both brunette, have the same nose, same chin, both are skinny, and they even have the same smiles.
However, at this point, nobody can be sure that Yup is being held hostage, and there isn’t any actual real solid proof to prove that she is indeed in danger, aside from the notable things in her videos.
And for all we know, this might even be a publicity stunt for more viewership, right?
Nevertheless, we just hope that Kate Yup is fine!