Logan Paul video: PewDiePie attacks fellow YouTube star over 'suicide forest' video

The video shot in Japan is fast becoming one of the most controversial ever to be posted to the site

Andrew Griffin
Tuesday 02 January 2018 12:25 GMT
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YouTuber Logan Paul uploads footage of dead body in forest in Japan

A controversial YouTube video showing a dead man has drawn criticism from the site's biggest star.

Logan Paul, one of the site's biggest stars, posted footage from inside a Japanese forest that showed a man who had died by suicide. That video has now been taken down but not before it was seen by millions of people, many of whom have criticised it for being insensitive and dangerous.

PewDiePie, the YouTuber whose real name is Felix Kjellberg, has criticised his fellow star for the controversial post on the site. He suggested that the post was insensitive and that Mr Paul had been using the footage of a dead man to encourage more people to watch his channel.

In a message posted to Twitter that made use of a popular way of writing used to mock people, he wrote: "Logan Paul goes to 'suicide forest': WoAH wE f0UNd ded GuY here!!!!! s0 cRaZy! lEMme jUsT zOom in oN tHis F0r tHe Vl0g. OK guYs seRiousLy, lEAve a like if yur sad to0."

Mr Kjellberg runs the most popular account on the site, with more than 54 million subscribers. He has often led criticism of other prominent users of the site as well as the company itself, including claims that it was reducing the reach of some of his most famous videos.

He has also seen a range of controversies over the last year, including the use of a racial slur during a livestream.

Mr Paul has denied claims that the controversial video was posted in order to generate more reach and views on his videos. It had been done to spread "positivity", he said in a message posted on Twitter after he took the video down.

"Let's start with this—I'm sorry," Mr Paul wrote on his Twitter account, which has nearly 4 million followers. "This is a first for me. I've 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."

"I didn't do it for views. I get views. I did it because I thought I could make a positive ripple on the Internet, not cause a monsoon of negativity. That's never the intention. 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. I still am.

“I do this sh*t every day. I’ve made a 15 minute TV show EVERY SINGLE DAY for a past 460+days. One may understand that it’s easy to get caught up in the moment without fully weighing the possible ramifications.

"I'm often reminded of how big of a reach I truly have and with great power comes great responsibility. For the first time in my life I'm regretful to say I handled that power incorrectly. It won't happen again."

But the criticism was swiftly criticised for including references to his own reach and power.

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