YouTuber Logan Paul under fire after posting video showing apparent suicide victim

Eli Blumenthal | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption YouTuber Logan Paul 'sorry' for video of dead body YouTube star Logan Paul came under fire for posting a video of an apparent suicide victim in Japan’s “suicide forest," Aokigahara.

YouTube star Logan Paul apologized for posting a video showing an apparent suicide victim in Japan's "suicide forest," drawing condemnation for appearing to use the death for comic purposes.

The video, entitled "We saw a dead body in the Japanese Suicide Forest," featured Paul and several friends arriving to camp at the forest, officially known as Aokigahara. After the group ventured off the trail, they happen upon an apparent suicide victim hanging from a tree. Paul and company then decide to venture closer to the body, filming their reactions along the way. The video shows several close-ups of the victim's body, though the victim's face is blurred.

Paul warns viewers that the video is graphic and remarks that he thinks it is "a moment in YouTube historybecause I’m pretty sure this has never hopefully happened to anyone on YouTube ever.” He says suicide is "not the answer" before jokingly replying to an off-camera, apparently distraught friend saying "what, you've never seen a dead guy before?"

The video was pulled from Paul's official YouTube channel but was re-uploaded by other users on the service. Paul became a trending topic on Twitter late Monday night, with celebrities and other YouTubers joining others on the Internet criticizing him for even posting the video that jokes about suicide.

It's the latest instance that Google-owned YouTube has taken heat for user-generated content that's popular with kids — and frequently makes its amateur creators money — but that has disturbing or adult themes. YouTube has vowed to crack down on videos that exploit children and to impose tighter filters for content that requires age restrictions.

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In a statement Tuesday, YouTube said the video violated its Community Guideline policies and shared condolences to the family of the person who appeared in the video. "YouTube prohibits violent or gory content posted in a shocking, sensational or disrespectful manner," reads an excerpt of YouTube's statement. "If a video is graphic, it can only remain on the site when supported by appropriate educational or documentary information and in some cases it will be age-gated."

According to New York magazine, which saw the original video before it was pulled, the video garnered over 6 million views in the 24 hours after it was published. The original video also apparently included information for the American Society for Suicide Prevention.

In a second apology posted to his channel Tuesday, Paul said he regrets posting the video. "There's a lot of things I should've done differently, but I didn't," he said. "And for that, from the bottom of my heart, I am sorry."

Paul, 22, rose to Internet fame using the now-defunct video sharing service Vine. He has since transitioned to making videos on YouTube, where he is one of the site's biggest stars with over 15 million subscribers along with his over 3.9 million followers on Twitter. According to Forbes, he earned $12.5 million last year.

Paul's videos, often of various pranks and outrageous stunts, frequently get several million views from his "Logang" fanbase.

In an apology posted to his Twitter account late Monday, Paul said that he "never faced criticism like this before and didn't post the video "for views." Instead, the note continues, Paul says he wanted to "raise awareness for suicide and suicide prevention."

More: Logan Paul's fans defend YouTube video of Japanese suicide; his apology tops trending videos

@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

i’m truly sickened by this logan paul situation. i lost my brother to suicide... my brother took his own life by hanging himself... how insensitive and sick can you be to film someone in that state 😔 — mommy (@CorinnaKopf) January 2, 2018

Now seems like a good time to remind the world that YouTubers like the Paul brothers DO NOT represent the entire community. That is all. — Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) January 2, 2018

logan paul exploiting a suicide victim in Japan to the tune of 6M+ views while youtube demonetizes students protesting in Iran is a perfect example of what a sociopathic garbage fire youtube has become. this industry has no soul left.



byeee. 👋 — Laci Green (@gogreen18) January 2, 2018

Please stop tweeting about logan paul and jake paul, stop watching their videos to leave a hate comment & stop disliking their videos. Good or bad, publicity is still publicity and it's embarrassing to work for a website where they're the biggest stars. Talk about something else. — Adelaine M♡RIN (@AdelaineMorin) January 2, 2018

Logan Paul's apology letter amounts to:

- I didn't do it for success I'm successful already

- I laughed at that dead body and zoomed in to raise awareness

- I make too many videos to think about what I upload



He's not sorry about his insensitivity. He's sorry he got called out. — Eunnie (@eunnieverse) January 2, 2018

logan paul did not spread awareness. logan paul filmed a man who hung himself for his own personal gain. logan paul stood next to a suicide victim and laughed. logan paul showed millions of CHILDREN a dead body. logan paul exploited a victim of suicide. — emily (@CurlyDucks) January 2, 2018