200,000 people have signed a petition to have Logan Paul kicked off YouTube after controversy over his filming of a dead body in Japan's 'Suicide Forest'


Logan Paul is at the center of controversy.
  • An online petition is gathering signatures to get Logan Paul's YouTube channel off of the video upload site.
  • It has more than 200,000 signatures.
  • Paul was met with backlash after uploading a video which featured the body of a man who had hanged himself.

An online petition is calling for YouTube to remove Logan Paul from its site following his most recent video upload that showed him and his friends discovering a dead body in what is known as the "suicide forest" in Japan.
"Logan Paul has gotten away with a lot of stuff. He took it way to [sic] far this time," the Change.org petition started by a person in Columbus, Ohio says
The petition created on Monday describes how the 22-year-old YouTube vlogger posted the video of his visit to Japan, which included his trip to Aokigahara and the discovery of a body of a person who had hanged himself. Paul blurred the face out in his footage and uploaded the video with the title, "We found a dead body in the Japanese Suicide Forest."
"It's not about YOU, Logan Paul," the petition continues. "A man who had family and friends chose to end his life, and you chose to share his death to your millions of followers without thinking about how his family/friends felt? It's disgusting and shouldn't be tolerated."
Backlash to Paul's channel has been swift since uploading the controversial video on Sunday, despite Paul including information for the American Society for Suicide Prevention in his YouTube description.
The former Vine star deleted the video and apologized in a statement on Twitter Monday.
"I've never faced criticism like this before, because I've never made a mistake like this before," he wrote.
"I didn't do it for views. I get views," he added as he stressed the popularity of his channel.
He said his intention was to "raise awareness for suicide and suicide prevention."
He also uploaded an apology video to YouTube.
On Wednesday, the vlogger took to his Twitter to say he'd be taking a break from YouTube.
"Taking time to reflect," he wrote adding "no vlog for now" and "see you soon."As of Friday afternoon, the petition has more than 200,000 signatures.
Neither YouTube nor Logan Paul immediately responded to INSIDER's request for comment.
If you are having feelings of depression or thoughts of suicide, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
Sign up here to get INSIDER's favorite stories straight to your inbox.
This article was updated to reflect the rising total signatures on the petition.

No comments:

Powered by Blogger.