Oli London

Oli London (born 14 January 1990) is an English Internet personality. London is known for his multiple ethnic plastic surgery procedures intended to make him look like Jimin, a member of the South Korean boy band BTS.

Oli London
Born (1990-01-14) 14 January 1990
England
Occupation
  • Internet personality
Years active2018–present
YouTube information
ChannelsOli London
Genres
Subscribers65.6 thousand
Total views30.14 million
Last updated: 29 December 2022

Born in England, London's interest in South Korean culture began after moving to South Korea in 2013 to teach English.

In 2022 he announced that he would no longer undergo surgeries and that he had converted to Christianity and was planning to receive baptism in the Catholic Church.[1] Having briefly identified as a transgender woman, London admits to regretting his surgeries and is now an anti-transgender activist.

Early life

London was born on 14 January 1990.[2] His father is an interior designer and his mother is a housewife.[3]

London's interest in South Korea began in 2013, after arriving in Seoul to teach English for a year.[3][4] London's partner, a Korean, taught him many Korean phrases; but according to London, he forgot almost everything he was taught due to his poor memory.[5] He also began researching the country's culture, and became familiar with many South Korean music groups. He became particularly interested in BTS, and began idolising popular member Jimin.[5]

The same year, London began having surgeries designed to make his face resemble Jimin.[6] On Jimin's face, London stated: "Obviously, he's changed over the years. But he's just got a very round, cute baby face, the most beautiful eyes, his smile, everything about him."[5]

Career

Television

London's television career is composed solely of guest appearances, all of which focus predominantly on his surgeries.[7] He started attracting media attention after appearing in a 2018 episode of the Barcroft TV documentary series Hooked On The Look, which presented his multi-surgery process to resemble Jimin.[8]

Music

In 2019, London began his K-pop career by releasing the single "Perfection", a bilingual English-Korean song revolving on the euphoria he felt after getting his surgeries;[5] it received negative reviews from music critics for its excessive autotune.[5]

In 2020, London released a Christmas song called "Christmas in Korea". Like his other song, he received backlash, this time for cultural reasons.

Acting

In his acting debut in 2021, London starred in the partially fictionalised short documentary film Gangnam Beauty. It was screened at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, and London starred in two roles: as himself and as a sculptor forced to make fourteen different masks to save their village from the gods' wrath.[9][10]

Personal life

"In Korea, having white skin is considered a sign of perfection or beauty. And Koreans go to great, great lengths to maintain that skin. You know, they don't go in the sea and stuff. They avoid the sun. I do go to great lengths—I also avoid the sun. I would like my skin to be, like, super, super, like Snow White, like Korean people. I get upset that some people think it's racist. I'm not racist."

—Oli London, 2022[11]

London has been a supporter of the Black Lives Matter organisation and an advocate for LGBT and women's rights.[11][12]

London describes himself as someone with "an obsessive and impulsive personality".[13] He practices speaking Korean with a private teacher every week.[11] He dated the French pornographic actress Angelique Morgan.[14][15] London has spoken of his poor relationships with family and friends and society's negative views towards him because of his racial identity. This eventually meant that he had difficulty finding a romantic relationship and caused him to become reclusive.[11]

Religion and spiritual beliefs

London is a former atheist.[16] Previously he was said to worship a cardboard cut-out of Jimin and even prayed to the singer.[17] He said he respects religious people.[16] He has criticised the Islamic doctrines of women's dress codes.[12] In November 2022, London announced his conversion to Christianity and his intention to be baptized in Catholic Church.[18]

Transracial identity

Although he is of White British descent, London has previously identified as South Korean.[19] His self-identification attracted worldwide attention[20][21] and stirred debate around the validity of being transracial compared to being transgender.[22][23] Sandra Song of Paper magazine accused him of fetishising South Korean culture, calling what he had done "incredibly offensive, especially since it effectively trivializes our identities because they're suddenly 'trendy.'"[24] London received death threats on the Internet for being transracial[25] but defended his identity as personal and said his intention was solely to appreciate the culture.[26][27] Others showed support for him. American activist Rachel Dolezal, who similarly attracted controversy due to her racial identity, stated that someone's personal identity (including London's) should not be other people's main concern.[28]

Gender and sexuality

London came out as non-binary during the Pride Month of 2021, announcing that he used they/them pronouns as well as neopronouns inspired by Korea and Jimin.[29]

In mid-2022, he came out as a genderfluid trans woman and announced plans to get further surgeries to look like Blackpink member Rosé.[30][31]

In October 2022, he told E! News that he was detransitioning, saying that he wanted to "go back to being [his] original self—a biological man", and updated his Instagram bio to indicate that he uses he/him pronouns.[31] London's book, Gender Madness, will be published in August 2023.[32]

Plastic surgeries

In March 2022, London announced plans for penis reduction surgeries, stating that "in Korea, [the average] penis is like 3.5 inches [...] People say, 'Oh, you can't be Korean. You're not 100 percent Korean,' and I just want to be 100 percent Korean. I would even have a penis reduction so I'm, like, the Korean average."[33] This statement brought him criticism for promoting stereotypes of East Asian men.[34]

At the time of his detransition in October 2022, he had undergone 32 surgeries, including six nose jobs, an eye surgery, a facelift, a brow lift, a temple lift, a teeth procedure,[31] and skin whitening injections.[11][13] He stated that he planned to stop getting further surgeries, which he said he had "undergone in [his] obsessive quest chasing perfection".[31]

Discography

Singles
2019

  • "Perfection"
  • "Butterfly (ft. Sten)"
  • "Heart of Korea"
  • "Last Christmas"

2020

  • "Mirror Mirror"
  • "I Love Korea"
  • "Lockdown City (ft. Sten)"
  • "TROUBLED B*TCH"
  • "Last Christmas (2020 Version)"
  • "Christmas In Korea"

2021

  • "Koreaboo"
  • "Plastic Is Fantastic"
  • "Diss Track"
  • "Puppet on a String"
  • "Christmas In Korea (2021 Remix)"

2022

  • "Korean Boy"
  • "Hooked on the Look"
  • "Tic Toc"
  • "Cyber Bullies"

EPs

  • Fallen Angel (2021)

    References
    1. Heipel, Edie (4 November 2022). "De-transitioner shares conversion to Christianity". Catholic News Agency.
    2. London, Oli [@OliLondonTV] (13 January 2022). "Omg it's my birthday tomorrow. I hope I become more Korean for my birthday" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 13 January 2022. Retrieved 24 April 2022 – via Twitter.
    3. "Oli London, die erste transracialistische Person" [Oli London, the first transracial person]. Arte (in French and German). 18 March 2022. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
    4. Kumar, Jaishree (30 June 2021). "We Spoke With a White Influencer Who Got 18 Surgeries to 'Become Korean'". Vice. Archived from the original on 7 March 2022. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
    5. Walsh, Lore (Spring 2019). "Oli London: More than meets the eye?". UnitedKpop. pp. 38–45. Archived from the original on 18 March 2022. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
    6. Smith, Ryan (28 June 2021). "Oli London Before Surgery Pictures as Instagram Star Identifies as Korean". Newsweek. Archived from the original on 23 April 2022. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
    7. LaCapria, Kim (29 June 2021). "'White Influencer Identifies As Korean'". TruthOrFiction.com. Archived from the original on 4 July 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
    8. Vesty, Helena (5 October 2018). "BTS fan spends $100,000 to look like K-pop group member Jimin". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
    9. Vanoni, Louise (29 December 2021). "Dans le noir miroir d'Oli London" [In the dark mirror of Oli London]. Beaux Arts Magazine (in French). Archived from the original on 3 January 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
    10. "Gangnam Beauty". International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam. Archived from the original on 3 December 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
    11. Smith, Ryan (29 January 2022). "'Transracial' Influencer Oli London Says Trolls Turned Him Into a Recluse". Newsweek. Archived from the original on 12 April 2022. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
    12. Villagracia, Nel (28 June 2020). "BTS fan shares thoughts on 'Jimin superfan' Oli London from another point of view". Inquirer.net. Archived from the original on 24 April 2022. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
    13. Notarantonio, Lucy; Edwards, Rob (20 April 2022). "British man undergoes £230,000 plastic surgery to make himself look like Korean woman". Daily Mirror. Archived from the original on 21 April 2022. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
    14. "Frenchy Morgan from 'Celebrity Big Brother' Wows In Teeny Bikini". OK!. 30 October 2018. Archived from the original on 15 November 2018. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
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    18. Heipel, Edie (4 November 2022). "De-transitioner shares conversion to Christianity". Catholic News Agency.
    19. Murray, Douglas (8 July 2021). "Oli London and the trickiness of being 'trans-racial'". The Spectator World. Archived from the original on 26 January 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
    20. Stanley, Tim (14 October 2021). Whatever Happened to Tradition?: History, Belonging and the Future of the West. Bloomsbury. p. 136. ISBN 978-14-72974-14-3. Archived from the original on 30 April 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
    21. Manieri, Rich (12 July 2021). "Welcome to a world where ethnicity is relative". The Daily Post Athenian. Archived from the original on 27 July 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
    22. Hill, Braden; Lane, Steven (2 July 2021). "No, you can't identify as 'transracial'. But you can affirm your gender". The Conversation. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
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