YouTube star Logan Paul apologies for uploading sick video of man hanging in Japan’s ‘suicide forest’ with bizarre claim he did it to ‘raise awareness’
YOUTUBE star Logan Paul has apologised after his video of a man hanging in Japan's so-called "suicide forest" was unanimously condemned for being insensitive.
Logan Paul was heard yelling, "Yo, are you alive?" at the dead man during a 15-minute clip, filmed at the base of Japan's Mount Fuji.
The camera then zoomed into the man's body, while Paul asks his tour guide: "Did we just find a dead person in the suicide forest hanging?"
The 22-year-old deleted the video after severe backlash online - including from Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul and Game of Thrones' Sophie Turner - but it had already been viewed six million times.
He has since issued a full apology on Twitter but faced a second backlash after appearing to suggest he was trying to raise awareness of male suicide.
Paul said: "I've never faced criticism like this before. I'm surrounded by good people and believe I make good decisions, but I'm still a human being.
"I didn't do it for the 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 one life, it'll be worth it,' I was misguided by shock and awe."
"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."
He received little sympathy from his followers, with Lucy writing: "There's still a corpse on camera and a family that could have seen that video after just learning their loved one is dead."
Meanwhile Jas said:"You think an apology will make us forget about what you did? No. You’re cancelled. GOODBYE."