What did Johnny Somali do? YouTuber risks 10 year prison sentence in South Korea

American YouTuber and banned Kick streamer Johnny Somali has gained a lot of attention while traveling in South Korea – but not the good kind as he’s now banned from leaving the country as he faces a hearing.

Controversial streamer Johnny Somali’s antics in South Korea have finally caught up with him after escaping Japan and Israel without any major consequences.

His luck of getting out of serious situations seem to have ended when he arrived in South Korea in September 2024, where he has since been the center of several controversial incidents, gaining the attention of the South Korean government.

Who is Johnny Somali?

Ramsey Khalid Ismael, better known by his online alias Johnny Somali, is a 24-year-old live-streamer who hurls provocative and offensive insults while traveling abroad, including in Japan and now South Korea. 

He began streaming in May 2023 before quickly gaining a massive following. However, his fanbase had trouble finding his content after he was banned first from Twitch, and then again from Kick, which typically has much more relaxed rules about content creation. Now, Johnny streams on an alternative platform, Rumble.

Johnny Somali’s reign of terror in the streaming world began back in 2023 when he terrorized Japan and Israel while broadcasting on Kick, resulting in multiple confrontations with the authorities.

Somali arrived in South Korea in September 2024 and immediately brought attention to himself.

What did Johnny Somali do?

Somali first arrived in Korea in September and immediately started causing drama. Since then, he has been the center of several different controversial incidents.

Kicked off a subway and kissed sexual slavery monument

On September 30, Somali was kicked off a subway by South Koran police officers. He was streaming and talking with the chat as he took a subway to Lotte World to attend a K-Pop-themed dance class. He took viewers along with him in a subway when his text-to-speech donations began playing loud, inappropriate noises.

He then continued to walk through the train, exclaiming: “George Floyd — I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe,” drawing stares from travelers around him. One passenger even confronted him, asking him to be quiet on public transport.

It wasn’t long before police surrounded the streamer and escorted him off the train, seemingly unmoved by his pleas as he explained that he was streaming.

“Goddamn it guys, I am getting pressed,” Somali told his chat. “This is crazy. The police are already here. We gotta go on the taxi.”

He later sparked outrage among locals after kissing the Statue of Peace, a well-known monument dedicated to honoring South Korean victims of sexual slavery by Japanese troops during World War II.

According to Korea JoongAng Daily, Somali was indicted without detention and charged with obstruction of business.

Throwing noodles and abusing employee in 7-Eleven

In another stream from October 17 which has since been deleted from Somali’s social media and streams, Somali was seen playing loud music in a 7-Eleven, purposely spilling ramen, throwing noodles at the wall, and fighting with a female employee by shouting sexist comments at her.

A clip of this has since been republished onto other social media platforms, such as X.

X

Deepfaking an AI girlfriend

The streamer could also be in trouble for deepfaking an AI girlfriend. In Korea, possessing sexual deepfakes of other individuals can result in up to seven years of jail time and a fine of around $22,000.

These charges come as South Korean creators started targeting Somali directly and assaulted him on a handful of occasions.

While Somali has apologized for his actions, claiming he didn’t realize the importance of the Statue of Peace, many Koreans are doubting his sincerity given his history.

Streamer banned from leaving South Korea

These incidents eventually resulted in South Koreans taking matters into their own hands by assaulting him. One Korean YouTuber even put a $770 bounty for information on his whereabouts to keep the attacks up.

Now, the banned Kick streamer has also been banned from leaving the country, even if he wants to, after his streams got the attention of the South Korean parliament. According to Yahoo, he’s facing charges of assault and narcotics use and he’s banned from leaving while under investigation. If convicted, the streamer could face up to 10 years in prison.

Should the case go to trial, this would be Somali’s second time in court in an Asian country. After his trial in Japan, Somali admitted to lying to the judge, claiming he wasn’t making any money streaming and was filming “documentaries.”

While Somali has apologized for his actions, claiming he didn’t realize the importance of the Statue of Peace, many Koreans are doubting his sincerity given his history.