South Korea slaps travel ban on US streamer for ‘causing commotion’
Johnny Somali has invited backlash for offensive stunts in country
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Your support makes all the difference.American YouTuber and Twitch streamer Johnny Somali has been slapped with a travel ban by South Korea for “causing a commotion at a convenience store in October”.
Somali, whose real name is Ramsey Khalid Ismael, was “indicted without detention” on Monday, a spokesperson for the southern district prosecutor’s office in Seoul said on Tuesday.
Somali, 24, allegedly confronted a convenience store worker who told him not to drink alcohol inside and made sexist comments. The worker reported him to the police on 17 October.
The streamer has gained notoriety in South Korea for provocative stunts, including kissing and twerking near a statue honouring the Korean victims of wartime sexual slavery during his visit to Changdong History and Culture Park in Seoul.
He apologised for that stunt after facing intense backlash. “I want to apologise to Koreans. I didn’t understand the significance of the statue,” The Korea Times reported Somali as saying in a YouTube video.
He claimed that his intent was to entertain his American audience but admitted his behaviour was disrespectful. “I’m truly sorry,” he said in Korean.
But many online commentators doubted the sincerity of Somali’s apology. Some pointed to an Instagram post showing Somali holding an image of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe with the caption, “RIP Shinzo Abe, I defeated the Koreans for you!”
He later deleted the YouTube post, but not the Instagram photo.
On Tuesday, Somali posted a video on Instagram holding his passport, waving to the camera and making an offensive gesture. The video was captioned, “Free Johnny.”
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