American YouTuber Johnny Somali has broken the internet after being sentenced to prison over the serious charges.
The former liver streamer, whose real name is Ramsey Khalid Ismael, has been found guilty after he sparked outrage in South Korea two years ago for allegedly kissing a statue symbolizing Korean victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery.
On Wednesday, April 15, the Seoul Western District Court sentenced Somali to six months in prison and 20 days of detention.
He is also barred from employment at institutions related to children and adolescents for five years, as he was accused of uploading offensive content on his official social media accounts.
The YouTuber initially came under the spotlight back in October 2024 when he posted a video of himself kissing a "Statue of Peace" that commemorates the former sex slaves in Seoul and performing a lewd dance in front of it.
For those new to the room, the Statue of Peace is a bronze memorial monument created in 2011 by artists Kim Seo-kyung and Kim Eun-sung.
The sculpture also serves as a powerful, often contentious, symbol for the thousands of Koreans and Asian.
However, apart from his jail drama, Johnny Somali was involved in multiple high-profile controversies and criminal investigations in various countries, particularly in Japan, before his arrest and subsequent imprisonment in South Korea.
So far, Johnny Somali's representatives have not issued any public remarks over the court's verdict.
