Logan Paul joins Twitch after YouTube backlash

Controversial YouTube star Logan Paul has now joined Twitch, the popular game streaming website.

The move comes as Paul faced withering criticism earlier this year after posting a video on YouTube of a suicide victim found in a Japanese forest.

Since joining YouTube, Paul has emerged as one of the video-sharing platform’s top stars, boasting some 21 million followers through his comedy videos and vlogs. However, the sharp backlash against Paul’s decision to post the video of the deceased man and his lighthearted reaction to it drew criticism from fans, fellow YouTubers and celebrities, later prompting YouTube to demonetize all of his videos.

The backlash has evidently prompted Paul to enter the video gaming community, showing a particular interest in Fortnite, the phenomenally popular game that’s been a hit among everyday gamers and celebrities alike.

His new Twitch profile, LoganPaulWasTaken, already boasts more than 375,000 followers despite having no video uploads currently.

Who is Logan Paul?

Logan Paul is an Internet personality and actor who has garnered more than 21 million YouTube followers as of February 2018. He drew intense criticism earlier this year after posting a video of a suicide victim found in Japan’s infamous Aokigahara Forest.

Paul was born on April 1, 1995 in Westlake, Ohio.

He started posting YouTube and Vine videos in high school and later attended Ohio University before dropping out to relocate to Los Angeles to focus on his burgeoning career with other rising YouTube stars.

Paul soon accumulated millions of followers through his frequent vlogs and comedy videos and later started making other media appearances, including appearing on an episode of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, Weird Loners and advertising campaigns for major brands like HBO and PepsiCo.

Although Paul’s videos gained him millions of fans, they also sometimes sparked controversy, the most notable of which was from a video of a deceased man in Japan’s ‘suicide forest’ uploaded by Paul on December 31, 2017 while on a vlogging trip to the country. The video, which drew more than 6.3 million views within just 24 hours of being uploaded, immediately drew criticism from celebrities, YouTubers, fans, politicians and the general public.

Paul quickly took down the video and posted apologies on Twitter and YouTube shortly afterwards. On January 9, YouTube issued a statement on Twitter denouncing the video and pledged to take steps to ensure that similar videos are never uploaded to YouTube again. The video-sharing company soon removed Paul from its preferred ad program, Google Preferred, and halted the sequel to his YouTube film The Thinning.

On January 24, Paul uploaded a new video to his channel that focused on suicide prevention and donated $1 million (£703,670) to suicide prevention organizations. He subsequently resumed his daily vlogs starting on February 4.

What is Logan Paul’s net worth?

Logan Paul’s net worth is approximately $14 million (£9.8m).

What is Twitch?

Twitch is a live video streaming platform used primarily for video game streaming that was introduced in June 2011.

Originally a spin-off of streaming website Justin.tv from Internet entrepreneur Justin Kan, the platform’s popularity soon surpassed that of Justin.tv, boasting more than 45 million unique viewers as of October 2013. 

The website was acquired by Amazon in August 2014 for $970 million (£683 million) and is seen as the leading video game streaming platform in the United States with more than 15 million daily active users and two million monthly broadcasters as of February 2018.

Reaction

Paul’s announcement drew a mixed reaction from the Twitch community on social media: