Logan Paul, an American YouTube personality, published a video on YouTube showing the body of someone who had just committed suicide in Japan. The video was filmed in Aokigahara, a forest in the northwestern area of Japan's Mount Fuji, which is the world's most popular suicide site. Paul's video was published on YouTube on December 31 and has already garnered 6.5 million views. Since its publication, the internet has attacked Paul for posting the video. However, in the beginning of the video, Paul stressed that he did not monetize the video. According to the Metro, Paul is worth about $6 million, and makes most of his money from product endorsements. He currently has 3.9 million Twitter followers and about 16 million subscribers on YouTube.
A majority of his fans are children. The cover image for the YouTube video shows Paul standing in front of the blurred out suicide victim.
The video showing the suicide, titled "We found a dead body in the Japanese Suicide Forest...," is about 15-minutes long and begins with Paul giving an introduction into the circumstances surrounding its contents. After a suicide prevention warning at the beginning of the video, Paul says, "Okay. Um. This not clickbait. This is the most real vlog I've ever posted on this channel. And this is the most circumstantially surreal event that has ever happened in my life... Now, that said: buckle the f**k up. Because you're never going to see a video like this again."
In the video, Paul documents his camping trip to Aokigahara with his friends. The forest is historically known as the home of ghosts in Japanese mythology. Paul goes on to say that the place is haunted.
As he and his friends wander into the woods to set-up camp, however, they spot a person who has recently committed suicide.
The group continues to film and later jokes about the situation.
Public outcry has been swift on social media, with people sickened by Paul's lightheartedness about the suicide and for even publishing it at all.
Paul tweeted this statement at 10 p.m. on January 1 following the public outcry:
In the statement, Paul claims he was trying to raise suicide awareness and that he is sorry.
