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Oli London

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Oli London
Born (1990-01-14) January 14, 1990 (age 34)
England
Occupation(s)Internet personality and Musician
Years active2018–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] Their interest in South Korea and Korean culture began at a young age. After wanting to work abroad, they discovered the South Korean government was taking in foreigners to teach English. London moved to Korea to work as an English teacher in 2013. They worked on Jeju Island, and after exposure to Korean culture, they "fell in love with the country".[2] Following their Korean trip, they got plastic surgeries which include a rhinoplasty, lip fillers, a blepharoplasty, and a genioplasty.[3] Parts of their face are numb due to these procedures.[4]

Career

After their appearances on the documentary series Hooked On The Look, many YouTubers began reacting and commentating to the episode.[5] It quickly went viral, and their channel grew. After moving to Los Angeles, they 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 their 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 they use the pronouns "they/them/Korean/Jimin" (or, alternatively, "kor/ean"),[8] and says they are in the process of "transitioning" from white to Asian.[9]

Their 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 themself 'Korean' is incredibly offensive, especially since it effectively trivializes our identities because they're suddenly 'trendy'."[10]

In May 2021, London's Instagram was erroneously labelled as "memorialised", usually meaning that the owner of the account was dead, which drew media attention. This occurred after there were rumours that London took their own life, fuelled by a fake news article.[11] The status of the account was later restored, and London claimed their account had been hacked.[11]

Discography

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

  1. ^ a b Walsh, Lore (Spring 2019). "Oli London: More than meets the eye?". UKP Magazine. UnitedKpop. pp. 38–45 – via Issuu.
  2. ^ "Kpopalypse Interview". Kpopalypse. 7 February 2019.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ "Oli London Reveals Which Surgeries He's Had To Look Like BTS' Jimin". Koreaboo. 9 January 2020.
  5. ^ "Popular YouTuber Found BTS Superfan Oli London's TikTok, Flabbergasted by the Content". Koreaboo. 26 December 2019.
  6. ^ "'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.
  7. ^ "BTS' Jimin Wannabe Look-a-Like: "Botched" Recap (S6, Ep2)". Botched. E! Entertainment. 12 September 2019.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ "Oli London: British influencer defends 'identifying as Korean' after surgery to look like BTS star". Sky News. 29 June 2021. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  10. ^ Song, Sandra (23 June 2021). "Oli London Says They're 'Nonbinary Korean'". Paper.
  11. ^ 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.
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