2 Billion Won Swag Bag for Youn Yuh-jung, 'Tax Bomb' Containing Marijuana

Marketing company Distinctive Asset that created the Oscar gift bags. Photo by Distinctive Asset, captured from Twitter

[Asia Economy Reporter Jumi Lee] Actress Youn Yuh-jung has drawn attention to the gift bags, which are only given to acting award winners and nominees, as well as directing award winners, after winning the Academy Award (Oscar) for Best Supporting Actress in the United States.

On the 27th (local time), according to U.S. media outlets Forbes and The New York Times (NYT), Los Angeles (LA) marketing company Distinctive Assets prepared a "swag bag" (gift bag) to be given to 25 people, including Oscar acting and directing award nominees.

This swag bag has no connection whatsoever with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which hosts the Oscars. Distinctive Assets created the gift bag by gathering products from companies that want to promote their products by leveraging the fame of Oscar stars since 2000.

The bag includes various products such as resort accommodation vouchers, liposuction procedure vouchers, alcoholic beverages, snacks, and card games. It is reported to contain various cannabis-derived products that are legal in California. These include 24-carat gold leaf-coated cannabis liquid cartridges, sleep aids mixing diluted cannabis liquid with melatonin, and ointments containing cannabis ingredients.

Forbes reported, "In recent years, Oscar gift bags have become a hot topic for cannabis gifts," adding, "This year was no exception."

However, the gift bags are not free. The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) classifies these bags, which local media reported to be worth $205,000 (about 220 million KRW), as celebrity income and imposes taxes. Forbes analyzed that recipients must pay 50% in taxes, including federal and California state taxes.

At the 93rd Academy Awards ceremony, actress Youn Yuh-jung (left, 74), the first Korean actor to win the Best Supporting Actress award, poses with Hollywood star actor Brad Pitt (right, 58). [Image source=Yonhap News]

Receiving this bag, valued at over 200 million KRW, means having to pay about 100 million KRW in taxes.

The NYT reported, "The gift items are not completely free, and Oscar nominees can refuse to accept the gifts."

It has not been confirmed whether Distinctive Assets delivered the bags to Youn Yuh-jung, Steven Yeun, and director Lee Isaac Chung (Korean name Jeong Isaak), who were nominated for acting and directing awards for the film "Minari."

In Youn Yuh-jung's case, it is a reasonable assumption that she would have no reason to accept a marketing gift bag that includes cannabis products.

Meanwhile, the Academy had distributed gift bags to nominees and awardees with sponsorship from 2001 but discontinued them entirely in 2006 after an investigation by U.S. tax authorities.

Chadwick Boseman NFT included in the gift bag list faced criticism. Photo by Andre Osher, Instagram capture.

Afterwards, when Distinctive Assets promoted and sold the bags as Oscar bags, the Academy filed a lawsuit in 2016 to clarify that the company has no connection with the Oscars.

Additionally, Distinctive Assets caused controversy this year by including inappropriate products in the gift bags.

Last year, to commemorate the late Hollywood star Chadwick Boseman, the company included an NFT (non-fungible token) artwork using blockchain technology in the gift list.

This led to criticism that the image was crude and did not resemble Boseman well, and that it commercialized the deceased. Eventually, the artist who created the Boseman NFT issued an apology and announced plans to create a new work.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.