News reports across the world had stated that 22-year-old Canadian actor Saint Von Colucci passed away at a hospital in South Korea after undergoing 12 surgeries to resemble BTS member Jimin. However, it has been revealed now that the entire story was fabricated using AI-generated images.
The news, as per a report by Variety, was circulated by a company called The Hype Company PR, which made various claims about the actor facing discrimination in Korea due to his appearance and undergoing multiple cosmetic surgeries to alter his looks.
Saint Von Colucco had reportedly moved to South Korea from Canada in 2019 to purdue a career in music. The actor then underwent surgery on April 22 to remove the jaw implants he had inserted last year in November.
However, after the surgery, he developed an infection that had to be intubated, after which, rumours started doing the rounds that he died a few hours later. In 2022, Saint Von spent $220,000 on 12 surgeries which included a nose job, a facelift, an eyebrow lift, an eye lift, and a lip reduction.
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Nevertheless, his publicist had a conversation with the Daily Mail on Monday, where he revealed, "It is very tragic and very unfortunate. He was very insecure about his looks. He had a very square jawline and chin and he didn't like the shape of it because he thought it was too wide and wanted a V-shape, the shape many Asians have.
He further said, "He was very insecure about his face. It was very hard for him to get a job in South Korea and he felt very discriminated against for his Western looks."
After arriving in South Korea in 2019, a firm paid for Saint Von's transportation, living expenses, and housing, where he was under a seven-year contract with him. His publicist further added, "He was very very excited and worked really hard."
Saint Von started filing for a Korean drama, titled, 'Pretty Lies' in June last year, where the shoot of the series was completed in December. Saint played one of the lead characters, an international student.
His publicist said that the eight-episode show is set to air on a giant US streaming network in October. Saint Von's original features included dark blonde hair and blue eyes, whereas he was 6 feet tall and weighed 182 pounds.