The Black Alien / Anthony Loffredo

About

The Black Alien (@the_black_alien_project) or Anthony Loffredo is a French man who has undergone body modifications, full body tattoos and large-scale piercings to transform himself into an alien-like creature for aesthetic purposes. He's grown a large Instagram following of over 1 million since debuting in 2017. Some of his most intense modifications have been the removal of his fingers, nose and upper lip. He's become notable in memes because of his declaration that no one will hire him and that he can't get a job which creators find ironic and obvious.

Background

Anthony Loffredo is a Frenchman who was born in 1988, making him 34 years old as of 2022. He was interviewed by French magazine Midi Libre^[1] on August 28th, 2017, being his first interview ever. It was never published online, however, the website Sinister Isles^[2] translated the interview in a later article. In it, Loffredo talked about how his childhood interest in bodybuilding developed into a new interest in body modification. He was quoted saying, "From a very young age, I have been passionate about mutations and transformations of the human body." Additionally, he stated, "When I was a security guard … I realized that I was not living my life the way I wanted. I stopped everything at 24 and left for Australia."

In a different article about Loffredo, Sinister Isles^[3] uploaded screenshots from Loffredo's Instagram Story where he showed the progression of his appearance from a young age to the current day (shown below).

Also in the 2017 interview, Loffredo stated that he loves seeing reactions to his appearance. He enjoys acting up to people's sense of wonder and dread but is sure to keep his behavior and interactions "respectful."^[2] He also speculated, "'Do they still see a human or something else?' This is what is exciting and fascinating."^[2] At the time of the interview, he was living in Montpellier, France.

Online History

On February 3rd, 2020, the YouTube channel BCN INK posted a video of tattoo artist Jack Banten tattooing the Black Alien. Over the course of two years, it received roughly 1.2 million views and 9,600 likes (shown below).

Two months later, Loffredo launched his online presence on Instagram. It's likely that he was posting content prior to this. If true, evidence of this has since been archived. Regardless, Loffredo's Instagram page the_black_alien_project uploaded its first post^[4] on April 13th, 2020, being an image of Loffredo's face at the time with the caption, "Black alien project évolution. – Transformation 10 % – Come back 🖕." It received roughly 13,400 likes over the course of two years (shown below). Additionally, the_black_alien_project was first added to the Internet Archive^[5] on September 29th, 2020, where at that time, it had amassed roughly 220,000 followers.

Loffredo's Instagram page received increased engagement in early October 2020, specifically after videos he shared of himself walking around as well as before-and-after photographs, one being posted^[6] on October 7th, 2020 and earning roughly 26,700 likes over the course of two years (shown below, left). Loffredo posted^[7] another before-and-after photo on November 9th, 2020, earning roughly 25,100 likes in the same amount of time (shown below, right).

On February 17th, 2021, Loffredo uploaded his first Facebook^[8] post to his page TheBackAlienProject. In one year it earned over 150 reactions.

As of August 2022, Loffredo's most-liked Instagram^[9] post was uploaded on July 23rd, 2022, earning roughly 85,000 likes in two weeks. As of August 2022, the_black_alien_project has amassed roughly 1.3 million followers.

Interviews

Besides his 2017 written interview, tattoo-centric YouTube channels and creators started to take an interest in Loffredo and his Black Alien Project. On June 18th, 2021, YouTuber Rene ZZ uploaded a 36-minute-long interview with Loffredo that focused mostly on his tattoos and the aesthetics of his modification choices. He additionally talked about the many modifications that had happened up to that point, including the removal of his ears, nose and upper lip. Over the course of one year, the video received roughly 4.3 million views and 195,000 likes (shown below).

Loffredo mentioned in the interview how the most painful modification to his body thus far had been the tattooing of his tongue as well as the splitting of it down the middle. At the time of the interview, he was living in Barcelona, Spain and noted that he didn't start the project until he had his own home and was disconnected from his parents. Also, he was allegedly 23% complete with his transformation.

Rene ZZ uploaded another video with Loffredo on July 1st, 2021, showing the two walking around Barcelona doing "Street Workouts." In one year, it earned roughly 754,700 views (shown below, left). More YouTubers interviewed Loffredo going into 2022. For instance, on June 21st, 2022, Loffredo was interviewed by the Spanish podcast Club 113. The video was roughly an hour and 47 minutes long and in one month, it received roughly 483,800 views (shown below, right).

Reactions and Memes

Reactionary content about Loffredo surfaced on YouTube in 2021. For instance, on March 23rd, 2021, YouTuber Kyle Anderson posted a video that reacted to the_black_alien_project Instagram account, claiming in its title that Loffredo had spent an estimated $30,000 on his transformation up until that point. In one year, Anderson's video received roughly 65,400 views (shown below, left). On June 23rd, 2021, YouTuber Pk Chronicles uploaded a video titled, "The Black Alien Project | Man Transforms Himself Into Alien," earning roughly 896,500 views in one year (shown below, right).

In 2022, memetic content surfaced about Leffredo and his Black Alien Project. For instance, on January 30th, 2022, Twitter^[10] user Renezzbro tweeted a Mr. Incredible Becoming Uncanny meme that joked about a normal person saying "today it's leg" versus the Black Alien saying "today it's leg." In seven months, the tweet received roughly 14,100 likes (shown below, left). On July 27th, 2022, Twitter^[11] user MishoAmoli compared a graphic tattoo that Loffredo received reading "ALIEN" in red on his body to a picture of an Air Jordan basketball shoe. The tweet received over 1,000 likes in four days (shown below, right).

Search Interest

External References