YouTube star Logan Paul is facing massive controversy after posting a graphic video of a deceased man, believed to have committed suicide, as part of a ‘vlog,’ during which the social influencer is seen laughing.
Twenty-three year old Paul travelled to Japan’s “suicide forest,” Aokigahara, known for and named after numerous suicides that take place on its site. The video titled “We found a dead body in the Japanese Suicide Forest…” garnered millions of views before being taken down on YouTube following outrage from viewers, who called it “disrespectful, “horrifying,” and “disgusting.”
Paul has apologised to fans and followers and removed the video from YouTube, where he has over 15 million followers, most of whom are young teenagers.
“Dear internet, I’m sorry. This is a first for me. I’ve never faced criticism like this before, because I’ve never made a mistake like this before. I’m surrounded by good people and believe I make good decisions, but I’m still a human being. I can be wrong,” he said to his 3.9 million Twitter followers.
While Paul insists he “didn’t do it for views,” and intended to raise awareness on suicide prevention, he continues to face outrage from people calling for his ban from the social platform.
User @silviafoutee tweeted, “Logan Paul has used someone’s suffering and pain to his advantage for the sake of money and fame. If he was doing it for awareness he would’ve respected the suicide victim and not film or post real footage. Suicide isn’t a joke or a cash grab Logan.”
Others tweeted that “no apology can fix this,” and called his admission of guilt “disingenuous” and his actions “inexcusable” and “unforgiveable”.
User @ImJessicaMena tweeted, “He spent time editing and reviewing the video, and not one single time did it occur to him that this is wrong? His whole account is made up of children and he still uploaded a video about something that children should avoid hearing about! Smh my little sister watches his vids.”
The video comes just two months after Paul visited the UAE for a meet and greet in the Dubai Mall.
The vlogger started making prankster videos of himself when he was just 10 years old, eventually garnering a total social media reach now approaching 48 million.
A number of Hollywood stars are also calling out the influencer. These include Brandon Larracuente, an actor in 13 Reasons Why, a series revolving around suicide.
“You don’t deserve the platform you’ve been given,” he tweeted.
Two months ago, he told Arabian Business in an interview, “I am a businessman. I am an entrepreneur. I am an entertainer, a creator, a life shattering mogul.”
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