YouTube megastar star Logan Paul has posted a groveling apology video after facing a furious backlash over the sickening footage of him laughing and joking in front of the hanging corpse of a Japanese suicide victim.
Paul’s apology comes as he hemorrhages subscribers in the wake of shocking clip, losing thousands of followers within a few short hours.
The 22-year-old, who still has 15 million subscribers on YouTube, had already posted a statement on Twitter amidst the furor over the video but that too was criticized for its self congratulatory tone after Paul referred to ‘how big of a reach’ he had and how he ‘gets views’.
He has now posted a new apology where he admits he ‘made a huge mistake’ and was ‘ashamed of myself’.
The YouTube star goes on to say that the grisly discovery ‘was obviously unplanned’ and the reactions ‘were raw, they were unfiltered.’
‘None of us knew how to react, or how to feel,’ he said, before admitting: ‘I should have never posted the video. I should have put the cameras down and stopped recording what we were going through.’
YouTube megastar star Logan Paul has posted a groveling apology video after facing a furious backlash over the sickening footage of him laughing and joking in front of the hanging corpse of a Japanese suicide victim
Paul has also lost thousands of subscribers since posting the clip. His YouTube channel is down by 6,715 subscribers since this morning. But the real figure is actually far more than that as Paul typically gains around 40,000 new subscribers everyday
Logan posted the original 15 minute clip of him walking and friends through the infamous ‘suicide forest’ at the base of Japan’s Mount Fuji on Sunday.
‘Did we just find a dead person in the suicide forest hanging?’ Logan asked a man, who appeared to be guiding them through the forest, at the start of the shocking video.
The video, titled ‘We found a dead body’, then cut to the man’s body dangling from a tree as Logan zoomed in with his camera. DailyMail.com has decided not to include this part of the video.
‘Yo, are you alive? Are you f**king with us?’ Logan is heard yelling at the motionless man.
‘A lot of things going through my mind. This is a first for me,’ Logan said, before asking someone to call the police.
YouTube star Logan Paul (pictured during the video) has been forced to apologize after he was slammed for posting a sick video from Japan’s ‘suicide forest’ that appeared to show a person who had hanged himself from a tree
‘Did we just find a dead person in the suicide forest hanging?’ Logan asked a man, who appeared to be guiding them through the forest, in the shocking video
The clip then cut to the man’s body (pictured) dangling from a tree as Logan zoomed in with his camera
Logan then films closer to the man’s body, noting that his ‘hands are purple’ and speculating that the man probably killed himself that same day.
He then apologized to his fans, saying: ‘I’m so sorry about this. This was supposed to be a fun vlog.’
Logan went on to say that ‘suicide is not a joke. Depression and mental illnesses are not a joke’.
The YouTube star, who is worth a reported $14 million, claimed that he and his crew visited the forest with an intent to focus on the ‘haunted aspect’ of the forest.
Toward the end of the clip, one of Logan’s friends is heard saying, ‘I don’t feel good.’
Logan then replied: ‘What you’ve never stood next to a dead guy?’ He then started laughing before saying that the whole vlog was supposed to be a joke.
He later appears to realize how his reactions could be perceived, saying: ‘Me smiling and laughing is not a portrayal of how I feel about the circumstances. Everyone deals with s**t differently.’
And Logan’s sick video received so much backlash online that he eventually deleted the post.
But toward the end of the clip, one of Logan’s friends is heard saying, ‘I don’t feel good.’ Logan then replied: ‘What you’ve never stood next to a dead guy?’
He then started laughing before saying that the whole vlog was supposed to be a joke
Breaking Bad star, Aaron Paul, called Logan ‘pure trash’ before telling him to ‘go rot in hell’.
He was followed by Game of Thrones star, Sophie Turner, who called Logan an ‘idiot’ who doesn’t ‘deserve the success’ he has.
Ariana Grande added: ‘Logan Paul and his friends laughing and smiling after discovering a dead body from a suicide. Disgusting.’
YouTuber Corinna Kopf also lashed out at Logan for his ‘insensitive’ video. ‘I lost my brother to suicide,’ Kopf tweeted.
Paul has also lost thousands of subscribers since posting the clip.
His YouTube channel is down by 6,715 subscribers since this morning. But the real figure is actually far more than that as Paul typically gains around 40,000 new subscribers everyday.
That puts the real loss at around 47,715 – and falling.
YouTube have since issued an apology saying that their ‘hearts go out to the family of the person featured on the video’ and adding that graphic or gory content can only remain on their site when ‘supported by appropriate educational r documentary information.’
Logan apologized for his actions, saying that he’s ‘sorry’, adding that he ‘didn’t do it for the views’
Logan’s sick video received so much backlash online that he eventually deleted the post. Breaking Bad star, Aaron Paul, called Logan ‘pure trash’ before telling him to ‘go rot in hell’
Logan is worth a reported $14 million that mostly comes from his social media accounts where he gets paid to endorse various products in front of his more than 13 million subscribers on YouTube
Logan, 22, racks up over 20 million views on some of his daily vlogs.
The Ohio native now lives in Los Angeles after he dropped out of Ohio University to pursue a career in social media entertainment.
He rose to fame on Vine, the now-defunct app that allowed him to share six-second videos of comedy.
Logan is worth a reported $14 million that mostly comes from his social media accounts where he gets paid to endorse various products in front of his more than 13 million subscribers on YouTube.
He currently has 15 million subscribers on his YouTube channel – which was the first to get to 1 million subscribers in the history of the site. He’s also appeared in commercials for brands ranging from Hanes to HBO. He has almost 4 million followers on Twitter, 16.1 million followers on Instagram and 16.6 million followers on Facebook.
According to Forbes, Logan makes $150,000 per Facebook post and $80,000 for sponsored content on Instagram.
Earlier on New Year’s Day, Logan posted this photo while in Tokyo, Japan, with the caption: ‘It’s 2018. Let’s grab life by the Pokeballs’
But many people didn’t believe a word Logan said. Actress Sophie Turner tweeted that Logan was ‘mocking’ and ‘not raising awareness’
Screenwriter Chase Mitchell also weighed in on Logan’s apology
In 2017, Paul dropped an impressive $6.6 million on a 8,700-square-foot home in Encino, California. The home, which was previously owned by actor Ryan Stiles, features five bedrooms and seven bathrooms.
His new home, which is in the Rancho Estates neighborhood, has seven bedrooms and nine bathrooms on an acre block.
His brother Jake Paul, 20, also dropped a similar sum of $6.925 million on a 15,000 square-ft mansion in Calabasas,California.
Jake has also courted controversy after he was accused of making his former neighbors’ lives ‘hell.’
The 20-year-old Disney star and social media influencer is famed for his ‘crazy’ pranks that included throwing a Harley Davidson in his backyard pool and setting furniture on fire. He and his ‘squad’ also loved to throw rowdy parties.
YouTube have since issued an apology saying that their ‘hearts go out to the family of the person featured on the video’
Families in the LA neighborhood accused Jake of turning their lives into a ‘living hell’.
During an interview with KTLA about the misery he’d caused to his neighbors, Jake seemed amused by the uproar. ‘The neighbors hate me,’ he laughingly told KTLA.
Jake was further seen running and skipping through the streets before climbing on top of the KTLA van – ignoring the pleas of staffers to stop.
Meanwhile Logan first made his mark on Vine, before pivoting to YouTube, where he boasts nearly 16 million subscribers between two accounts.
Since then he has tried his hand at acting in TV and films, with guest roles in Law And Order: Special Victims Unit and YouTube Red thrilled The Thinning
Logan also sells his own line of merchandise through his company called Maverick.
Logan Paul bought this $6.5million mansion in Encino, California in October 2017
His new home, which is in the Rancho Estates neighborhood, has seven bedrooms and nine bathrooms on an acre block
After all of the backlash, Logan later apologized for his actions, saying that he’s ‘sorry’ and he’s 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,’ Logan said in his statement.
Logan claimed in his apology that he ‘didn’t do it for views’ because he already gets views.
‘I did it because I thought I could make a positive ripple on the internet, not cause a monsoon of negativity… 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.’
The apology continued with: ‘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.’
Many people reacted to his apology by saying they didn’t understand how someone could ‘get caught up in the moment’ while filming a man who had just committed suicide.
For confidential support call the National Suicide Prevention Line on 1-800-273-8255.
Logan’s brother Jake is also a YouTube star in his own right, and a social media influencer, with his own share of controversy
Paul’s brother Jake (pictured) has also courted controversy after the Disney star and social media ‘influencer’ was accused of terrorizing his West Hollywood neighbors last the summer. The 20-year-old clambered up on top of a KTLA van while he was being interviewed
He has since bought a new, 15,000-square-foot property in Calabasas (pictured)