Weird5 min(s) read
Published 20:04 15 Feb 2019 GMT
The bigger, badder brother of piercings and tattoos, body modification is becoming increasingly popular in certain circles. Humans walk among us with horns, elf ears, split tongues and all manner of strange bumps under their skin. However, one artist’s procedures are pushing the boundaries even for a practise which itself is on the fringes of society.
Known as ‘Dr. Evil’, Brendan McCarthy has irreparably altered the appearance of hundreds of people. But body modifications such as ear and nipple removal put him in what was optimistically presumed a legal grey area. With no appropriate license to carry out surgery however, the 50-year-old is being pursued by the courts.
McCarthy, who owns Dr. Evil's Body Modification Emporium in Wolverhampton, UK, had a pivotal fact in his defence: he always had his clients’ consent. But while consent is important when it comes to injury through sport, activities, tattoos, piercings and medical surgery, body modification doesn’t comfortably fall into any one of those categories. Therefore, that he had his clients’ consent doesn’t mean he hasn’t committed an offence.
One such client is Nick Pinch, who went to Dr. Evil's Body Modification Emporium to have his nipples removed. Often, those who opt for this procedure do so to avoid any incongruous element of a whole-chest tattoo. However, Pinch had had extensive piercing and stretching in this area and was entirely satisfied with how he was treated: "[McCarthy] wanted to know why I wanted this procedure, he wanted to make sure I knew what I was doing, he took complete duty of care. I'm really happy with what I've had done."
The local council got involved when they were sent an image of the results of an ear removal which was performed in 2015. A decidedly drastic decision, the images seem truly gruesome to the uninitiated.
It seems those who were performing these procedures were somewhat blinkered when it comes to where they sit within the legal landscape. "Practitioners have assumed that extreme body modifications, as forms of body adornment, were lawful when consent was given,” states Dr Samantha Pegg, a lecturer in law at Nottingham Trent University and expert in this area. "Although the law has long accepted that tattooing and piercing are lawful activities there has not - until this case - been any consideration of other forms of body modification such as tongue splitting."
But McCarthy has strong support from the body modification community which sees this case as a clear infringement of civil liberties. Meanwhile, a petition set up by his partner has more than 14,000 signatures.
“Whether body modification is something you have strong feelings about or not,” the petition states, “this case touches upon the issue of supporting professionals, consent, peoples rights to feel comfortable and happy in their own bodies & discrimination.”
However, despite the backing of his peers, the court proceedings have, thus far, not gone his way. “We can see no good reason,” he was told in an initial hearing, “why body modification should be placed in a special category of exemption from the general rule that the consent of an individual to injury provides no defence.”
Judge Nawaz stated that body modification is completely different to tattoos and piercings, reasoning that there is "no proper analogy". He added: "What the defendant undertook for reward in this case was a series of medical procedures for no medical reason."
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said that, even though there were also no relevant medical qualifications, a key failure of the parlour - on paper - is that it is not registered with the General Medical Council (GMC). "Surgical procedures must be carried out by properly trained, qualified and regulated surgeons or healthcare professionals," senior prosecutor Rhiannon Jones said.
"Under current laws, we are classed as effectively consenting abuse victims,” stated Body Art, born Matthew Whelan. "These are private procedures and agreements between me as the client and the business person.” Body Art, a keen proponent of body modification whose full name is King of Ink Land King Body Art The Extreme Ink-Ite, added: "But I do think there needs to be regulation. There are people in the industry that aren't protected."
McCarthy and others argue that the outcome of this case could send a great deal of body modification procedures underground - potentially creating greater harm to the end user.
Truly believing he was in the right, McCarthy spent an additional £40,000 ($51,000) to hire a new legal team and take his case to the supreme court. However, his appeal was denied. He eventually decided to plead guilty to grievous bodily harm but does so begrudgingly. "It's crushed me completely, I'm a shadow of my former self," said McCarty, who has recently become a father. "I don't feel I've done anything wrong." He will be sentenced on 21 March at Wolverhampton Crown Court.
While many people would agree that such extreme procedures are strange and unnecessary, this unusual legal situation highlights that, by extension of blame placed upon others, we don’t have sovereignty over our own bodies. Whether or not it’s a good thing that the state exerts this control is up for discussion.
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weird1 min(s) read
Published 12:59 22 Mar 2019 GMT
A tattoo artist and body modification surgeon has been jailed for 40 months.
Brendan McCarthy, also known by the moniker 'Dr Evil', had performed a number of controversial and extreme procedures on clients, with their consent, from his studio in the town of Wolverhampton, England; this including tongue-splitting, ear removal, and nipple removal. He has now pled guilty to three counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
At the sentencing at crown court on Thursday, Judge Amjad Nawaz stated McCarthy had no qualifications to carry out surgical procedures, and stated that he did not know: "[how to] deal with any adverse consequences which could have arisen ... There is a clear public interest element. There is also a need for a deterrent."
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Prosecutor Peter Grieves-Smith QC read out statements made by a man named Ezechiel Lott, who had his ear removed by McCarthy in 2015, and later felt as though he'd been deceived by him, since he had never been told that the procedure was illegal.
He stated: "I accept that the conduct Mr McCarthy has pleaded guilty to must cross the custodial threshold. But nevertheless, in the exceptional circumstances of this case, the court could properly suspend any such sentence ... Each individual actively sought the procedures. It came about as an extension of the work he had historically undertaken in respect of body-piercing and tattooing."
Local police say that McCarthy conducted the various procedures, without knowing his clients' medical histories or psychiatric backgrounds. Investigators also discovered out-of-date pre-injection swabs, anaesthetic gel, stitching thread and needles on the premises. Despite this, a number of body modification enthusiasts rallied around McCarthy to support him and a petition was set up in his name, which soon attracted over 13,000 signatures.
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Councillor Steve Evans, the cabinet member for the environment, stated that the local authority had: "Exposed a national issue which requires a national regulation to be introduced to protect members of the public against the risks of extreme body modification. Whilst I'm sure Mr McCarthy considers himself an artist, providing a service removing and cutting people's body parts without adequate medical training from unsuitable retail premises, presents a risk to the public that we are not prepared to accept."
relationships3 min(s) read
Published 09:36 19 Sep 2025 GMT
Michel ‘Diabão’ Praddo isn’t interested in fitting in. In fact, he’s made it his life’s mission to stand out—so much so that he's become one of the most body-modified men on the planet.
Extreme body modifications refer to the intentional alteration of the human body in ways that go beyond conventional practices such as piercings or tattoos.
These modifications can include subdermal implants, tongue splitting, scarification, eyeball tattooing, and even limb removal, often done for aesthetic, cultural, or personal identity reasons.
While they can be a form of self-expression or spiritual symbolism, extreme body mods are often controversial and may carry significant health risks, including infection, nerve damage, or long-term physical complications.
Despite societal stigma, many individuals who undergo these modifications see them as empowering acts that challenge norms and redefine beauty on their own terms.
Covered in tattoos and known for his extreme transformations, Diabão has taken body modification far beyond piercings or inked lyrics.
Roughly 85 percent of his body is tattooed, but that’s just the beginning. He’s also had horn implants, removed the outer part of his ears, and shows no signs of slowing down.
Diabão, who boasts over 300,000 Instagram followers, frequently posts updates showing his progress and shocking his audience.
Most recently, he confirmed that he plans to amputate his pinky and ring fingers to shape his hands into claws.
Today, he holds the Guinness World Record for the most “horns” on his head and has undergone more than 60 body-altering procedures, according to the Mirror.
His appearance has earned him the nickname “human Satan”—a label he doesn’t seem to mind.
But his dramatic look hasn’t come without criticism.
On older photos he shares of himself, people often leave stunned and disapproving comments.
“You were so good looking before and now look at yourself on how you screwed it up,” one person wrote.
“A nice normal looking guy,” another user commented on a throwback image.
Still, Diabão appears completely unfazed by the reactions. He seems happy with the direction he’s chosen and looks forward to further transformations.
For those curious about what he looked like before, Diabão occasionally shares before-and-after comparisons on Instagram—proof that this transformation was anything but accidental.
From one shocking transformation to another, Anthony Loffredo (AKA "The Black Alien") is a French man known for undergoing some of the most extreme body modifications in the world.
His transformation project, which he calls “The Black Alien Project,” is aimed at completely altering his appearance to resemble what he envisions as an extraterrestrial being.
Some of the body modifications Loffredo has undergone include:
Loffredo has stated that his transformation is far from complete and views it as a form of artistic and personal expression. While his appearance is shocking to many, he maintains that the project has helped him feel more like his true self.
His journey has sparked both fascination and controversy across social media, where he shares regular updates about his modifications and mindset.
weird1 min(s) read
Published 16:48 18 Mar 2019 GMT
Some people to choose to modify their bodies as a form of self-expression, to show their affiliation with a tribe or to shock the hell out of you, old geezer! These procedures include tattoos, body piercings, neck rings, ear gauges and subdermal implants - planting a silicone design underneath the skin. We've seen people split their tongues like snakes, plant horns in their foreheads and even tattoo their eyeballs, at the risk of going blind.
Now the body modification trend has soared to new heights, as a man had the inside of his ear removed. Chai Maibert, who owns the Calm Body Modification studio in Stockholm, Sweden, shared striking photos of the results on social media. According to Maibert, the procedure is called a 'conch removal,' removing the middle portion of the external ear, which is also referred to as the pinna or auricle. The man reportedly travelled halfway around the world, from Australia to Sweden, just to get this alteration.
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On the studio's Facebook page, Maibert wrote, "Fresh #conchremoval on @charlesvbentley who traveled around the world from Australia to have this procedure performed by me at @calmbodymodification. Truly humbled!"
"To get some facts straight note that this procedure doesn’t make you deaf," he continued. "It might impair your ability to hear the direction of sound for the first week or two until your mind has adjusted to your new ears. Hearing from behind will in fact improve. Our ears doesn’t “catch” sound as it did eons of years ago when our ears were bigger hence why we have to create a bigger “ear” by cupping our hand around our ear to hear better."
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In the Facebook comments, one person quipped, "Unfortunately, that is ear-reversable." Another person shared a photo of a jeans belt loop caught on a door handle, with the caption, "All I can think of." And one man snarkd, "Ah, I see you’ve ordered the attention seeking package, how may I guide your unemployment experience today?"
Meanwhile, one woman who claims to an expert disputed Maibert's comments about hearing loss. woman "As a concerned audiologist," she wrote, "literally every comment of yours regarding his hearing is WRONG. All of it. Completely incorrect." (Fight it out in the comments, ear anatomy experts!)
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Well, as they say, to each their own. I think I'll pass on the conch removal, ear gauges, eyeball tattoos, split tongue, neck rings, devil horns and subdermal implants, though.
uncategorised3 min(s) read
Published 22:16 16 Oct 2017 GMT
entertainment news2 min(s) read
Published 10:21 22 May 2024 GMT
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