Mr. Hoang and Ms. Ly registered their marriage in May 2014. The couple has no children after getting married. Nevertheless, their married life remained peaceful until the wife began to indulge in following and supporting a male streamer on social media.
Initially, there were only small donations, but gradually, the amount grew to an unbelievable figure: 1 million yuan (nearly 4 billion VND). Specifically, from September 2021 to February 2023, Ms. Ly frequently gifted and tipped the male streamer named Liu every time he went live. The reason given was to “support her idol” and “hope to get attention.” However, for the husband, this was not just wasteful spending but also an act of destroying their joint property, pushing the family towards bankruptcy. This was money that both spouses had saved over many years, including borrowed funds for business investments.
Additionally, Ms. Ly and her online idol often had high-frequency chats on WeChat, with content that was intimate and far exceeded a typical friendship. The husband shared that he was completely unaware of the large sum his wife had “burned”. Only when the family budget ran out unusually did he start to investigate and was shocked to discover the truth.
Mr. Hoang immediately filed for divorce while also suing the male streamer, claiming that the donation was invalid and demanding the streamer return 550,000 yuan (approximately 2 billion VND). He asserted that his wife was suffering from depression and had to be hospitalized for a month due to the severity of her condition. The male streamer, Liu, had taken advantage of Ms. Ly’s unstable mental state to converse with her, leading her to transfer such a large sum. The money belonged to their joint property while they were still living together, and without Mr. Hoang’s consent, it seriously violated his legal rights and interests.
For his part, the male streamer argued that female fans voluntarily donated to him on the livestream platform, rather than through personal transfers. In fact, he only received about 40% of the total donation amount.
Ultimately, the Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court decided that the male streamer must return over 300,000 yuan (nearly 1.1 billion VND) to Mr. Hoang after consideration. Since this was property acquired during the marriage, the couple also needed to negotiate how to divide the refunded amount.
This story serves as a stark warning about the unforeseen consequences of excessive “donating” (supporting) to streamers or virtual idols online. While supporting those we admire is normal, when it exceeds financial limits and severely impacts real life, it can lead to tragic consequences.
According to Sohu