Logan Paul was one of the hottest YouTubers in the mid-2010s. Along with a lot of business opportunities, Logan Paul also signed a movie opposite his ex-girlfriend Chloe Bennet. Despite a magnificent year in 2017, Logan almost lost his career right at the beginning of 2018.
In late 2017, The Maverick took a trip to Japan. Back in the day, he used to do a lot of travel vlogs. It was always interesting to see him explore new places and navigate his way through exotic locations. For one such trip, Logan went to the south Asian country, Japan. However, his conduct throughout the trip was criticized heavily. But it was the vlog on December 31st, 2017, that got him in trouble.
new vlog
— Logan Paul (@LoganPaul) December 29, 2017
kicked out Japan 🇯🇵
go ay go
In the deleted video, Logan visited the Aokigahara forest in Japan. Although it is a beautiful place to explore, it also had another reputation too! Aokigahara is also a place, notorious for its many suicide stories. The forest in Mount Fuji is also known as Japan’s ‘suicide forest.’ Logan was exploring the place and was filming in the jungle for his vlogs. But, the cameras caught something they were not supposed to.
While roaming around, Logan Paul came across a hanging body in the forest. Team Paul filmed it and put it in their vlog. But that was not a smart decision from team Paul. The outrage against Logan, was perhaps the most severe that any other YouTuber had faced till then.
The Maverick faced severe consequences for the Japanese suicide forest video
As soon as the vlog went online, fans started pointing out that the video was made in poor taste. Logan already had millions of subscribers on his YouTube channel. Hence, it did not take much time for the content to go viral! The video was shared across the web many times, but for all the wrong reasons. Time and time again the audience showed their disgust for the video and it was quickly taken down.
Although Paul deleted the video soon after, it already did major damage to his brand. BBC reported that YouTube removed Logan’s channel from Google Preferred. Hence, Logan lost out on a lot of extra revenues that he would have earned otherwise. But, that is not the only punishment he suffered.
Like many others, we were upset by the video that was shared last week.
— YouTube (@YouTube) January 9, 2018
We expect more of the creators who build their community on @YouTube, as we’re sure you do too. The channel violated our community guidelines, we acted accordingly, and we are looking at further consequences.
— YouTube (@YouTube) January 9, 2018
It’s taken us a long time to respond, but we’ve been listening to everything you’ve been saying. We know that the actions of one creator can affect the entire community, so we’ll have more to share soon on steps we’re taking to ensure a video like this is never circulated again.
— YouTube (@YouTube) January 9, 2018
YouTube also was in talks to create a lot of original content with Logan. But, that ultimately did not happen as the platform backed out of the deal. The biggest Hollywood movie star Dwyane Johnson also distanced himself from Paul. According to a report from NBC, Paul was also sued for $3.5 million in 2020 by Planless Pictures.
The production company alleged that the controversy in 2018, led to them losing out on $3.5 million. Apparently, the production company was set to earn the mentioned amount from Google, as licensing fees. However, it did not happen after the suicide forest saga.
Did Logan Paul apologize for the suicide forest video?
In the face of severe backlash, Logan Paul had no other choice but to apologize. He posted a video on his social media platforms just 2 days after the initial post. He seemed to be filled with remorse and vehemently apologized for his actions. The video has over 76 million views across Twitter and YouTube. Paul, who was in his early 20s, admitted to a serious lapse of judgment.
“I wanna apologize to the internet. I want to apologize to anybody who has seen the video, I want to apologize to who has been affected and touched by mental illness, or depression, or suicide. But, most importantly, I want to apologize to the victim and his family.”
After apologizing, Logan also urged his fans not to defend his actions and revealed that he deserved the criticism. At the time, Logan was perhaps the most talked-about man on the planet. As a result of the much-publicized controversy, Logan disappeared from the public eye for a brief period of time. Later, he built up the momentum to resurrect his career.
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He went on to create a very successful podcast called, “IMPAULSIVE.” Along with KSI, Logan Paul is one of the YouTubers who popularized YouTube boxing. But he also fought Floyd Mayweather in a 2021 exhibition boxing match. Paul also proved that he was a talented pro wrestler and performed at WrestleMania 2022.
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