Getty Logan Paul attends "The Thinning" Meet & Greet on October 8, 2016.
Youtuber Logan Paul has found himself in hot water after a video he uploaded to Youtube showed him stumbling upon a suicide victim. The video in question was filmed during Paul’s trip to Japan in a forest known as Aokigahara which sits at the base of Mount Fuji. However, this forest is also known as the “Suicide Forest” due to the high number of self-inflicted deaths caused here. According to Japanese police records, in 2010 a staggering 247 people attempted suicide here, with 54 successfully going through with the act.
You can view part of the video here, however, the full 15-minute version has been taken off of Youtube, apparently by Paul. We warn readers that the footage shown in the video linked above is graphic, so viewer discretion is advised. The removal of the original video on Youtube could be due to the massive amounts of reporting that have followed since its release.
Update:
Logan Paul has officially apologized for the video on Twitter this evening. In his statement, Paul explains that he has never faced criticism like this before and claims that he didn’t release the video for views. He continues and states that he simply wanted to raise awareness about suicide and suicide prevention. You can read his full apology below.
Dear Internet,
Youtube has also released a statement regarding the video to popular internet personality Philip DeFranco. You can read their remarks on Logan Paul’s video and it being taken down, below.
Original Story:
Paul uploaded the 15-minute, non-monetized video titled “We found a dead body in Japan’s Suicide Forest…” on December 31. His video opens explaining to his viewers that the footage is graphic and states that “…this marks a moment in Youtube History.” Logan continues and tells his viewers to “Buckle the f*ck up because you’re never going to see a video like this again.” The video continues and once it hits the 6:32 mark, Paul discovers a young man who appears to have hung himself on a tree. While the police are called, Paul continues to film and gets close to the body with his camera.
Logan then apologizes to his viewers and explains that this was “…supposed to be a fun vlog.” In the video, Paul explains that he intended to address suicide before they discovered the body and that his video was supposed to focus on the supernatural aspects of the Suicide Forest. He then films the responders arriving and is told by an official that the forest is a restricted area. This video finishes with Logan discussing suicide and urges his viewers who suffer from this to seek help.
Since the video’s release, social media and many prominent voices within the community have been extremely critical of Logan. Many view the video as disingenuous and beyond disrespectful that he would showcase this to his channel of 15 million subscribers. Others note how many young viewers Logan Paul has and question how this could affect them. At the time of writing this, the Suicide Forest video had 6,373,554 views with 465,000 likes and 69,000 dislikes before it was removed. The comment section for the video was flooded with angry remarks and people asking him to delete the video.
Here are what some people are saying about Logan Paul and his vlog.
Not even one day into 2018 & Logan Paul has already set the bar for the most disgusting, depraved, disrespectful and wrong video on YouTube. Suicide & depression is not a joke and needs to be treated respectfully. The body shouldn’t have been filmed at all.
Youtubers: 2017 was the most disgusting, depraved, nightmare for content.
Logan Paul: Hold my beer.
Logan Paul recording and uploading incredibly graphic images of a suicide victim to his 15 MILLION YOUNG FANS has me absolutely fucking astonished and disgusted. Completely disgraceful.
I thought I would try to give the Logan Paul video a chance to see if it was possibly approached in a respectful way, but from the giggling, jokes and sound effects, that was clearly never the video’s intention. I can’t bring myself to watch even two minutes.
Bro, my YouTube videos get demonetized if I have “war” in the title but Logan Paul is showing dead bodies in his video. What the fuck, YouTube?
Logan Paul has not made a statement or apology on Twitter regarding this issue. Youtube has also not commented on this, but the video has been taken down. Many viewers are aiming to have the video taken down and Paul punished due to its offensive nature via the report button on the vlog. A hashtag on Twitter called #giveloganastrike has sprung up in the wake of this backlash.
We will update this piece as more information becomes available.