Popular vlogger Logan Paul has issued an apology after one of his recent videos sparked outrage for including the corpse of a suicide victim.
Pall shared a video with his 15 million subscribers in which he pays a visit to Aokigahara; Japan’s notorious “suicide forest”.
“This is the most real vlog I’ve ever posted on this channel,” he says at the beginning of the vid. “I think this definitely marks a moment in YouTube history.”
Then he trains the camera on the corpse and laughs.
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“Yo are you alive? Are you fu**king with us?” he asks, getting closer to the body and calling out the corpse’s purple hands.
He’s since deleted the vid and posted several apologies, including this one on Twitter:
Where do I begin…
Let’s start with this –
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.
I didn’t do it for views. I get views. I did it because I thought I could make a positive ripple on the internet, not cause a monsoon of negativity. That’s never the intention. I intended to raise awareness for suicide and suicide prevention and while I thought “if this video saves just ONE life, it’ll be worth it,” I was misguided by shock and awe, as portrayed in the video. I still am.
I do this sh*t every day. I’ve made a 15 minute TV show EVERY SINGLE DAY for the past 460+ days. One may understand that it’s easy to get caught up in the moment without fully weighing the possible ramifications.
I’m often reminded of how big of a reach I truly have & with great power comes great responsibility… for the first time in my life I’m regretful to say I handled that power incorrectly. It won’t happen again.
I love everyone. I believe in people. I’m out here. Peace #Logang4Life
Dear Internet, pic.twitter.com/42OCDBhiWg
— Logan Paul (@LoganPaul) January 2, 2018
He also posted this apology on his YouTube page:
But it appears this was a little too little a little too late, as people are outraged:
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
If you watched the Logan Paul video and it made you feel uncomfortable, here are some hotlines to call that will help:
Suicide Prevention Hotline
800-273-8255Depression Hotline: 1-888-640-5174
Self Harm Hotline: 1-877-455-0628
Mental Health Hotline
866-677-5924— Matt || TLJ spoilers (@adoringajlee) January 2, 2018
Logan Paul is an amoral piece of shit who could not be less deserving of his platform. Fuck. If you need help, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-TALK.
— Lauren Duca (@laurenduca) January 2, 2018
Logan paul found a person who had taken their own life, filmed the body, put it on youtube, and then issued a public apology that ended with #Logang4Life. Charlie Brooker doesn’t need to write episodes of black mirror anymore because real life is fucking worse.
— Calum McSwiggan (@CalumMcSwiggan) January 2, 2018
Related: Calum McSwiggan Sentenced For Filing False Gay Bashing Report
…How long he would have had to sit there looking at that footage of that poor person, and how not once did he think "maybe just MAYBE this is really, really wrong…". The views, publicity and controversy mattered more than the respect he could have shown. x
— Carrie Hope Fletcher (@CarrieHFletcher) January 2, 2018
Things that should of been left in 2017: Logan Paul
— Roly (@RolyUnGashaa) January 2, 2018
Suicide is serious. People have lost loved ones, idols, hero’s, fans to suicide. Filming a video and mocking a victim is not raising suicide awareness. Laughing at the body of a poor depressed soul. I can’t believe the disrespect of the victim, their family, and your YOUNG fans.
— Grayson Dolan (@GraysonDolan) January 2, 2018
Logan paul found a person who had taken their own life, filmed the body, put it on youtube, and then issued a public apology that ended with #Logang4Life. Charlie Brooker doesn’t need to write episodes of black mirror anymore because real life is fucking worse.
— Calum McSwiggan (@CalumMcSwiggan) January 2, 2018
Bob LaBlah
Maybe the general public should start wising up. The overall majority of these bloggers and such have not taken Journalism 101 nor care to. Its all about THEM and how to keep the clicks coming in. I don’t understand the shock by anyone.
Heywood Jablowme
I saw the WaPo story on this but… um… Is Logan gay? Is he just some straight kid that Queerty has a (collective) crush on? Should we wait for Kaiser Windbag II to ask, “What is the gay angle?”
Bryguyf69
I’m not familiar with Logan Paul other than the fact tat he is popular. Is he gay? I ask not because this story is on Queerty but because the video in question (which aired on the news) features Paul wearing a jacket with a rainbow patch. I can’t find anything about his sexual orientation though.
Here are the worst parts of the video. I link it to show the rainbow patch, not the suicide victim. Be forewarned, this excerpt shows the dead man hanging from a tree.
http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/video.php?v=wshh3cARSx34iJ59mdt7
NateOcean
Yeah, it’s not as if this was a live video where he inadvertantly stumbled across the death. It’s a video he shot, then edited down, and posted. All the while thinking how many “views” he’ll generate and likely getting a boner thinking about the bucks he’ll rake it.
ChrisK
I think it would’ve passed if he didn’t start cracking jokes at the end. What a dumb ass.
deppa
What a narcissistic A-hole! This dude is not a professional journalist or filmmaker. Did he think about the deceased person’s family or friends when he shot this and what they might think? Did he do this as part of a comprehensive documentary on suicide (NO) or just for shock value to get clicks and notoriety?
ChrisK
I love how Miss Calum Mcswiggens is commenting on it. Just another example of pathological narcissism.
Brian
I love how there are always some do-gooders who feel the need to include suicide prevention phone numbers in their tweets. I used to see stuff like that on Gawker and its related sites all the time and it always made me roll my eyes so hard.
Also, posting this video as a public service about suicide awareness is about the stupidest excuse imaginable. If you want your apology to come off as sincere, maybe don’t include a huge steaming pile of BS as part of it?
OrchidIslander
I lost one of best friends to suicide. I loved him like a brother. Its been almost 5 years and it still hurts. If somehow he had come across some do-gooders’ tweet complete with suicide prevention and acted upon it – a million plus eye rolls I could handle.
Terrycloth
The amazing thing or the most stunning is that this kid raked in 12 million dollars last year..maybe that’s why an apology. Wants the money to keep rolling in…at least the dead man”s face was blurred…still.. you would think looking at it during editing , maybe it’s not a good idea tof show the.body at all…kids…watch his vids..
Prax07
I can only imagine trash like the Paul bros were raised by trash, so don’t expect any type of smarts or decency where it comes to this pair of idiots. Jake was the bigger douche, now that title goes to this one apparently. No morals at all. As others have said, a lot of work and editing, probably done by some teenage assistant, was done on every video these idiots release, and yet no one thought maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t a super cool idea? Just all shallow, callow, narcissistic mental cases the lot of them.
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
Callous McSwindler holding forth on morality and ethics in media is never not welcome.
Call the Career-Suicide Hotline. now and someone at Queerty et al will help you.
Knight
I met Logan twice; once in LA and then a year later in OC. The first time he was genuinely chill and the kind of guy you just don’t take too seriously but in a good way. The second time in OC he was just incredibly full of himself and surrounded by “yes-men/women” who fed his ego to the point that you could see something like this was going to happen sooner or later.
On an ironic note, I think it’s incredibly “funny” Callum has the tiny ‘nads to comment on Logan’s bad behavior when he has never ONCE admitted NOR apologized for faking a hate crime to cover up his illegal activities/arrest. Who’s the bigger bottom-feeder here now?