On December 31, just weeks after claiming 2017 was the best year of his life, Logan Paul posted a vlog on his YouTube channel that most say have ruined his whole career.

Logan Paul is a 22 year old social media star originally from Ohio. He rose to fame after gaining popularity from his funny antics and skits on the 6 second video sharing app vine. Logan then expanded his fanbase by starting a YouTube channel where he vlogs his everyday life. His fan base includes mostly kids and teens. His channel became the fastest growing in YouTube history, gaining 10 million subscribers in less than a year. Logan also built up his brand by starting his own clothing line “Maverick by Logan Paul.” He sells everything from socks to backpacks to his fans who he calls the “Logang”. Logan also is an advocate for people being creative, different, and “going right when everyone goes left.” He claims these independent thinks are “mavericks” and that is what him and his fans stand for.

Members of the “Logang”, celebrities, and suicide victims are outraged by the video Logan posted. In the video, Logan and two other friends visited a infamous suicide forest in Japan. The intention was to do an overnight challenge here, which is where YouTubers sleepover at haunted or controversial sites. What they ended up discovering is heartbreaking. The group of three friends ventured off trail to find a body hanging lifeless from a tree branch. It was obvious from the state of the body that this horrendous act had just taken place. Instead of putting the cameras down and going to report what they had found, Logan continued to film the dead body. He not only showed the dead body on camera, but he moved closer, zoomed in on the hands and injuries, and barely blurred out the face of the victim. He and his friends then began to laugh about the whole situation.

In the beginning of the video Logan defends his actions by saying that the video is to raise awareness about suicide. He also mentioned that he wasn’t monetizing (earning an income) the vlog.

Immediately after he posted the video titled “We found a dead body in a Japanese suicide forest,” Logan received horrible backlash. Thousands of people commented and voiced their opinions about how he wasn’t raising awareness about suicide. He was actually mocking it. Fellow Youtubers made videos to respond to the whole situation. Even celebrities tweeted or spoke on the matter.

Sophie Turner, a Game of Thrones actress, tweeted out, “ You’re an idiot. You’re not raising awareness. You’re mocking. I can’t believe how self-praising your “apology” is. You don’t deserve the success in the you have. I pray to God you never have to experience anything like that man did.”

Youtuber Anna Akana, who lost her sister to suicide several years ago, tweeted, “Dear @Logan Paul, When my brother found my sister’s body, he screamed with horror, confusion, grief, and tried to save her. That body was of a person who was loved. You do not walk into a suicide forest with a camera and claim mental health awareness.”

Logan took down the video within 24 hours. That didn’t stop six million people from viewing the video and for it to reach the trending section of YouTube. Most of his younger subscribers watched people mock and record a dead body. He then took to twitter to formally apologize stating, “I didn’t do it for the 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.” Logan followed up that tweet by posting a video starting with, “I’ve made a severe and continuous lapse in my judgement, I do not expect to be forgiven, I am simply here to apologize.”

Posting this video was an obvious misconduct of the rules and regulations that Youtube set forth in there terms and conditions. Because of this, YouTube has taken measures to punish Logan. They will not pursue any further projects with him, including any movies Logan has made on YouTube red. He has been taken off of Google’s preferred ads list, so he will not make nearly as much money as he used to by posting videos. Should the public give Logan a second chance?  

Freshman Emma Fenton, an avid fan of Logan and member of the Logang believes in second chances. “Logan Paul did do pretty disgusting things, but other celebrities have as well. I feel that he knows what he did is wrong. He has continuously said to not forgive him for his actions. I believe everyone deserves a second chance and I hope to see him continue his career soon.”