The British Internet celebrity Oli London posts a video on Youtube to apologise to Jimin from the Korean boy band BTS, as well as to the whole Asian community.
Oli London is a British Internet influencer who is active on social media such as Youtuber and Tik Tok. London identifies as a transgender and transracial Korean woman using they/them pronouns.
London’s Obsession with Jimin
London is known for his obsession with BTS’s Jimin. They undergo a considerable amount of plastic surgeries just to look like Jimin. London has even had a marriage with a Jimin cardboard cutout. Now they have married British Danny Richardson. And they aim to pay for him to have surgery to make him look like Jimin as well.
London has shown his crazy obsession with Jimin and Kpop on social media. They post multiple videos about Kpop and Jimin such as song covers, music video reactions and new tracks to show their love and passion. However, some actions in the videos are considered misunderstanding and disrespectful to Asian culture.
“I Love Korea”
In their music video, “I Love Korea”, they are bathing in ramen with soy sauce with other Asian elements aside. In another video, “Heart of Korea”, they are wearing Japanese clothes. Aside from the comments about judging their appearance, some people think the clips are racial and offensive to the Asian community.
In the video apology video, London mentions that bullying issues result in a lack of confidence. “People would call me terrible names about my big nose such as calling me a monster, elephant or Shrek”, London says in the video.
The love of Jimin and Kpop gives them happiness and freedom. “I changed my entire life thinking I could become as beautiful and as talented as Jimin”, they say, “but I have finally realised this was wrong and unhealthy”. They then apologise to Jimin for the unhealthy obsession and decide to become a better version of themselves.
They also explain that they never have the intention to disrespect and discriminate against the Asian community. “I always use my voice to speak up for Asian causes and dedicate a lot of my time to helping the Asian community” London explains, “and vow to continue doing this by using my platform to do good and help others that need help”.
Some people encourage London to share the bullying experience and feel relatable. But other people also think London has not addressed the real issue. Identifying as a Korean does not mean that you can completely understand Korean culture. Also, the actions of calling their husband a “Jimin lookalike” and trying to make him look like Jimin. Seems like London just does not change.
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