YouTube Logan Paul caused a firestorm on social media after he uploaded and then deleted a video in which he and a group of friends walk through Aokigahara, a forest in Japan known as the “suicide forest” due to the number of suicides attempted and completed there. In the clip, Paul and the group come across what appears to be a dead body of a man hanging from a tree, and while the man’s face is blurred in the footage, his hands, clothes and bag are visible.
On Monday, Paul removed the video and posted an apology on Twitter, in which he wrote that he’s “never faced criticism like this before, because I’ve never made a mistake like this before.” New York Magazine shares that the video was viewed 6.3 million times in 24 hours before Paul removed it.
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After posting his apology, Paul was met with even more backlash, with many unimpressed by his words, including celebrities and other prominent YouTubers.
@LoganPaul You’re an idiot. You’re not raising awareness. You’re mocking. I can’t believe how self-praising your “apology” is. You don’t deserve the success (views) you have. I pray to God you never have to experience anything like that man did.
— Sophie Turner (@SophieT) January 2, 2018
Dear @LoganPaul,
How dare you! You disgust me. I can’t believe that so many young people look up to you. So sad. Hopefully this latest video woke them up. You are pure trash. Plain and simple. Suicide is not a joke. Go rot in hell.
Ap
— Aaron Paul (@aaronpaul_8) January 2, 2018
logan paul gotta go 👋🏼
— Andrea Russett (@AndreaRussett) January 2, 2018
Logan Paul took his video down @youtube but the damage has been done. Ur platform let someone whose audience is children – get scarred by someone they “look up to” showing a suicide victim’s body & making jokes. This is wrong & his channel should be shut down. This is deplorable. https://t.co/n5nE1IStEg
— Kandee Johnson (@kandeejohnson) January 2, 2018
Many social media users called for YouTube to take action against Paul.
I don’t know what’s worse: that YouTube allowed Logan Paul’s video to be up for so long (despite, undoubtedly, at least hundreds of flags) or that he had more than 500,000 likes on the video from a like minded audience. It’s chilling. Views, fame & money over basic human decency
— Amena (@amenaofficial) January 2, 2018
so i make one video about my eating disorder and my entire channel is demonetized forever
but logan paul can show a dead body and make fun of suicide and go # 1 on trending 🤔
— danny (@epDannyEdge) January 2, 2018
Can we start 2018 by removing all Logan Paul content from the internet?
— Andrew Reiner (@Andrew_Reiner) January 2, 2018
While others expressed their disbelief that anyone would support Paul after his actions.
It’s pretty amazing that kids are still standing up for @LoganPaul after what he did. It’s also sad that Logan Paul doesn’t see the weight of his influence on kids. Do better please. Do better.
— Dee Kosh (@TheDeeKosh) January 2, 2018
Suicide isn’t a joke of any sort & the fact that Logan Paul made a video & publicly posted a dead person to millions of young fans then had the nerve to laugh and joke after .. it’s fucking sickening if you support that then you’re just as sick & twisted
— Uchiha (@Zyphree_) January 2, 2018
Photo Credit: Twitter / @LoganPaul
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