YouTube cut all ties with Logan Paul after controversial 'Suicide Forest' video

YouTube have announced that all business ties with American vlogger Logan Paul have been cut after he sparked controversy by uploading a video of a suicide victim’s body in Japan’s Aokigahara Forest, a famous suicide spot.

Logan’s channels have been removed from the site’s Google Preferred programme, which is where popular content creators are packaged for sale to advertisers.

They have also put their original series with Logan “on hold” and cut him from his comedy series.

A YouTube spokesman said: “In light of recent events, we have decided to remove Logan Paul’s channels from Google Preferred.

“Additionally, we will not feature Logan in season four of Foursome and his new originals are on hold.”

Logan, 22, has around 15million subscribers and sparked outrage when he uploaded a vlog that showed him and his friends laughing after coming across the body of a suicide victim.

YouTube only responded to the backlash on Tuesday [9 January], writing an open letter to the community and reassuring critics that they are looking into “further consequences” for Logan.

They wrote on their official Twitter page: “Like many others, we were upset by the video that was shared last week.

“Suicide is not a joke, nor should it ever be a driving force for views. As Anna Akana put it perfectly: ‘That body was a person someone loved. You do not walk into a suicide forest with a camera and claim mental health awareness.’

“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.”

Addressing why they took so long to publicly address the furore, YouTube added: “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.”

As well as the YouTube community, Logan was slammed by celebrities – including fellow YouTuber PewDiePie, Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul, and Game Of Thrones’ actress Sophie Turner – who also criticised Logan’s “self-praising apology” that he had released in the wake of the backlash.

However, the outrage didn’t end there with Twitter account We The Unicorn later sharing a video montage featuring other moments from Logan’s trip to Japan, proving that the ‘Suicide Forest’ video was not his only controversial moment.

Editing together a series of shocking moments that feature in Logan’s own Japan vlogs, We The Unicorn wrote: “Turns out Logan Paul’s trip to Japan was problematic for many reasons.”

In the two minute and 15 second clip, Logan and his friends can be seen throwing Pokemon Poke-balls at cars and members of the public, smashing up a Gameboy before complaining to a shopkeeper that it is faulty, and seemingly mocking Japanese culture as he donned traditional garments, repeatedly stating that it’s “important not to disrespect the culture”.

The tweet immediately went viral, with people calling for Logan to be banned from YouTube following his controversial and insensitive behaviour.

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