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Oli London

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Oli London
Born (1990-01-14) January 14, 1990 (age 31)
England
Years active2018-present

Oli London (born 14 January 1990) is an English Internet personality and singer. They are most notable for having multiple plastic surgery treatments since 2013 to look like BTS vocalist Jimin.[1]

Early life

Oli London was born on 14 January 1990 in England.[2] Their interest in South Korea and Korean culture began from 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".[3] Following their Korean trip, they got plastic surgeries which include a rhinoplasty, lip fillers, a blepharoplasty, and a genioplasty. 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 in 3 February 2019. Perfection received negative reception, with the consensus being that London overused autotune and that London was white, but trying to become Asian.[2]

Identity

London came out as transracial and non-binary 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)
  • "Koreaboo" (2021)
  • "Diss Track" (2021)
  • "Plastic Is Fantastic" (2021)

References

  1. ^ Hooked on the Look (2018-10-05). "I've Spent $100,000 To Look Like A K-Pop Star". truly. Barcroft TV – via YouTube.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Walsh, Lore (Spring 2019). "Oli London: More than meets the eye?". UKP Magazine. UnitedKpop. pp. 38–45 – via Issuu.
  3. ^ "Kpopalypse Interview". Kpopalypse. 7 February 2019.
  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. 2019-09-12.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b Neumann, Laiken (2021-06-21). "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 (2021-06-23). "Oli London Says They're 'Nonbinary Korean'". Paper.
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b Haasch, Palmer (2020-06-24). "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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