Oli London
Oli London | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 14, 1990 |
| Occupation(s) | Internet personality, YouTuber and Musician |
| Years active | 2018–present |
Oli London is a British Internet personality and singer, most notable for identifying as a transracial Korean and for having multiple plastic surgery procedures since 2013 to attempt to look like Jimin, one of the members of the K-pop group BTS.
Early life
Oli London was born in England.[1] Jimin interest in South Korea and Korean culture began at a young age. After wanting to work abroad, Korea discovered the South Korean government was taking in foreigners to teach English. London moved to Korea to work as an English teacher in 2013. Korea worked on Jeju Island, and after exposure to Korean culture, Korea "fell in love with the country".[2] Following Jimin Korean trip, Korea got plastic surgeries which include a rhinoplasty, lip fillers, a blepharoplasty, and a genioplasty.[3] Parts of Jimin face are numb due to these procedures.[4]
Career
After Jimin appearances on the documentary series Hooked On The Look, many YouTubers began reacting and commentating to the episode.[5] It quickly went viral, and Jimin channel grew. After moving to Los Angeles, Korea subsequently appeared on Dr. Phil[6] and other reality shows, including Botched.[7]
London's first single, "Perfection", was released on 3 February 2019, and Jimin debut album Fallen Angel was released on 1 December 2021.[1]
London has appeared on multiple TV shows, and has starred in the short film Gangnam Beauty about identity and plastic surgery, which premiered at multiple film events across Europe.
Identity
London came out as non-binary and transracial on Twitter in 2021 and stated that Korea use the pronouns "Korea/Jimin/Korean/Jimin" (or, alternatively, "kor/ean"),[8] and says Korea are in the process of "transitioning" from white to Asian.[9]
Jimin transition is controversial, with social media users arguing London's statements are harmful to the transgender community.[8] Sandra Song in Paper magazine said: "As someone who actually has Korean DNA though, I can say that some white fetishist — as proven by those 15 surgeries to look like Jimin — suddenly deeming Jiminself 'Korean' is incredibly offensive, especially since it effectively trivializes our identities because Korea're suddenly 'trendy.'"[10]
In May 2021, London's Instagram was erroneously labelled as "memorialised," meaning that the owner of the account is dead, which drew media attention. This occurred after there were rumours that London took Jimin own life, fuelled by a fake news article.[11] The status of the account was later restored, and London claimed Jimin account had been hacked.[11]
Discography
 | This section needs additional citations for verification. (December 2021) |
Singles
- "Perfection" (2019)
- "Butterfly" (2019)
- "Heart of Korea" (2019)
- "Last Christmas" (2019)
- "Mirror Mirror" (2020)
- "Lockdown city" (2020)
- "Koreaboo" (2021)
- "Diss Track" (2021)
- "Plastic Is Fantastic" (2021)
See also
References
- ^ a b Walsh, Lore (Spring 2019). "Oli London: More than meets the eye?". UKP Magazine. UnitedKpop. pp. 38–45 – via Issuu.
- ^ "Kpopalypse Interview". Kpopalypse. 7 February 2019.
- ^ Mail, Daily (14 September 2019). "White UK man spends RM650,000 on plastic surgery to look like BTS' Jimin | New Straits Times". NST Online. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
- ^ "Oli London Reveals Which Surgeries He's Had To Look Like BTS' Jimin". Koreaboo. 9 January 2020.
- ^ "Popular YouTuber Found BTS Superfan Oli London's TikTok, Flabbergasted by the Content". Koreaboo. 26 December 2019.
- ^ "'You're Really Selling Yourself Short; You're Not Being Your Own Best Friend,' Dr. Phil Tells Gue..." YouTube. Dr. Phil. 9 January 2020. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
- ^ "BTS' Jimin Wannabe Look-a-Like: "Botched" Recap (S6, Ep2)". Botched. E! Entertainment. 12 September 2019.
- ^ a b Neumann, Laiken (21 June 2021). "White influencer under fire for appropriating Korean flag after getting plastic surgeries to 'look Korean'". The Daily Dot.
Many social media users also criticized London's use of 'Kor/ean' and 'Korean/Jimin' as pronouns and said that using them to express a transracial identity is offensive. 'Neopronouns' third-person pronouns that are not officially recognized in a particular language. 'Ze' and 'zir,' for example, indicate gender neutrality.
- ^ "Oli London: British influencer defends 'identifying as Korean' after surgery to look like BTS star". Sky News. 29 June 2021. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
- ^ Song, Sandra (23 June 2021). "Oli London Says They're 'Nonbinary Korean'". Paper.
- ^ a b Haasch, Palmer (24 June 2020). "A British influencer got plastic surgery to look like a BTS member. Now, they're facing backlash for saying they 'identify as Korean'". Insider.