Overview

Johnny Somali's South Korea Hunt Down Controversy, also known as Johnny Somali's South Korea Arrest, refers to a series of physical altercations and mob attacks against the American Kick streamer and YouTuber Johnny Somali after he caused a significant backlash among South Koreans due to his disrespectful and provocative behavior while live-streaming in public spaces. The influencer has been actively hunted down by enraged Korean streamers since mid-October 2024, which led to him being arrested to protect him from the attacks of other Korean streamers. Online, the Somali's hunt down became a viral topic on X and YouTube. In early November 2024, Somali was banned from leaving South Korea and could be jailed for over 10 years if convicted of assault and drug use.

Background

The hunt down for American streamer Johnny Somali, real name Ramsey Khalid Ismael, started on October 15th, 2024, after he began groping and kissing a memorial statue for Korean “comfort women,”^[10] which references Korean women and girls who were systematically kidnapped and enslaved by the Japanese Imperial Army during World War 2. X^[1]

On October 15th, 2024, a Japanese account^[2] dedicated to criticizing and exposing the streamer's unethical behavior, shared a video of the streamer groping the Korean statue (seen below) and dancing in front of it while using baby oil on his body. The video amassed more than 480,000 views and 342 likes in two weeks.

Developments

Johnny Somali's Hunt Down

In the days following the statue incident, Korean netizens started to hunt the streamer for accountability for his unethical behavior. On October 26th, 2024, X^[3] user @decoyposts posted a clip from a Korean streamer showing the moment Johnny Somali and his friends were attacked. The tweet (seen below) amassed more than 10 million views and 29,000 likes in a week.

On the same day, X^[4] user @ClipXClipX posted another angle of the moment Somali is jumped by other Korean streamers (seen below), which received more than 508,000 views and 5,900 likes in a week.

Johnny Somali's Arrest

On October 30th, 2024, Johnny Somali was ambushed at his lodgings and punched by Korean YouTuber YunliangTV. Both were arrested by the police and Somali remained under police protection for his safety.^[5]

On the same day, X^[6] page @canceljohnnys posted two videos showing the moment Somali is attacked by YunliangTV (seen below), which amassed roughly 761,000 views and 1,200 likes in two days.

According to Dexerto,^[7] Somali has been charged with two counts of assault and one count of drug use.

On November 6th, 2024, Somali has been prohibited from leaving South Korea and could be "jailed for over 10 years if convicted of assault and drug use," as Dexerto^[11] wrote.

Online Reactions

Somali's hunt down became a viral topic on the internet and a significant share of netizens cheered while the streamer was being attacked by South Koreans. For example, on October 31st, 2024, @_Izitto^[8] tweeted "I want to congratulate the Korean people on beating the shit out of Johnny Somali." The post (seen below) received more than 26,000 views and 482 likes in a day.

On October 30th, 2024, streamer Asmongold posted a video^[9] reacting to the Johnny Somali controversy (seen below), amassing over 1 million views and 35,000 likes in a two days.

Search Interest

External References