YouTuber Logan Paul has announced he’s taking time off vlogging ‘to reflect’ in the wake of his Suicide Forest debacle.
The YouTube star, 22, tweeted: ‘Taking time to reflect. No vlog for now. See you soon.’
The move comes after Paul faced a furious backlash over the sickening footage of him laughing and joking in front of the hanging corpse of a Japanese suicide victim.
He has since posted a groveling apology video, admitting he ‘made a huge mistake’ and was ‘ashamed’ of himself. The YouTube star goes on to say that the grisly discovery ‘was obviously unplanned’ and the reactions ‘were raw, they were unfiltered.’
The YouTube star, 22, tweeted: ‘Taking time to reflect. No vlog for now. See you soon’
The move comes after Paul faced a furious backlash over the sickening footage of him laughing and joking in front of the hanging corpse of a Japanese suicide victim (pictured is a still from the video)
Paul has since posted a groveling apology video, admitting he ‘made a huge mistake’
‘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.’
It was the second apology in as many days, after his first statement on Twitter was criticized for its self congratulatory tone after Paul referred to ‘how big of a reach’ he had and how he ‘gets views’.
The Associated Press initially reported that Japanese police were interested in talking to Paul as the case involved suicide. However, Masaki Ito, spokesman for the Yamanashi prefectural police, said people aren’t obligated to report a body.
Paul’s team did in fact call the police and his original video emergency officials appearing at the scene.
Local police declined comment to reporters on Wednesday, and Japanese police, as a rule, do not generally comment on suicides.
Logan posted the original 15 minute clip of him walking through the infamous ‘suicide forest’ at the base of Japan’s Mount Fuji with a group of friends 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, in the shocking video
He then started laughing before saying that the whole vlog was supposed to be a joke
The clip then cut to the man’s body (pictured) dangling from a tree as Logan zoomed in with his camera
‘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.
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.
Incredibly, after a dip in subscribers on Tuesday, the scandal has actually increased the number of Paul’s followers. (Pictured is Paul’s dropping subscriber count on Tuesday morning)
The YouTuber gains around 40,000 new subscribers everyday. On Tuesday, this dropped to just 16,000 but by the following day, it had rocketed up to more than 80,000
megastar Logan Paul has posted a groveling apology video
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.
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.
Incredibly, after a dip in subscribers on Tuesday, the scandal has actually increased the number of Paul’s followers. The YouTuber gains around 40,000 new subscribers everyday.
On Tuesday, this dropped to just 16,000 but by the following day, it had rocketed up to more than 80,000. At around midday on Thursday, the subscriber count was already approaching 30,000, and climbing.
YouTube has also issued an apology via YouTube star Philip DeFranco, who is the video-sharing site’s go to to deliver news.
‘Our hearts go out to the family of the person featured in the video,’ the statement read.
‘YouTube prohibits violent or gory content posted in a shocking, sensational or disrespectful manner. 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.
‘We partner with safety groups such as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline to provide educational resources that are incorporated in our YouTube Safety Center.’
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 subscribers
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.
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
He also sells his own line of merchandise through his company called Maverick.
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’
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.
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.
YouTube have since issued an apology saying that their ‘hearts go out to the family of the person featured on the video’ . It was delivered to YouTube star Philip de Franco who tweeted it on Tuesday
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.
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
His brother Jake Paul, 20, 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.
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.
He has since dropped $6.925 million on a 15,000 square-ft mansion in Calabasas,California.
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)