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SIPA USA/PA Images

YouTube star apologises for posting video of dead body in Japanese 'suicide forest'

Broadcaster Piers Morgan reacted to the apology by calling Paul a “sick, twisted, heartless little p***k”.

AMERICAN YOUTUBE STAR Logan Paul has apologised for shooting a video in which he finds a dead body at a notorious Japanese suicide blackspot.

Paul posted the apology after a backlash to the video which appears to show a body hanging.

The video shows Paul, who has millions of Twitter followers and YouTube subscribers, going on a trek with friends in Aokigahara forest, near Mount Fuji.

Critics said that his demeanour in the now-deleted video – he is seen laughing and joking – was particularly poor, but that the segment should not have been made in the first place.

Others criticised the lack of nuance the video displayed and criticised Paul for not directing viewers to specific helplines.

Others said that YouTube, where Paul has over 15 million subscribers, should take action.

Reacting to the backlash, Paul deleted the video and posted an apology on Twitter.

“I’m sorry…I’ve never made a mistake like this before,” he wrote.

“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 the views. I get views. I did it because I thought I could make a positive ripple on the internet, not a monsoon of negativity.”

He said that he hoped the video could “save just ONE life”, but claims he was “misguided by shock and awe”.

“I do this sh*t every day. I’ve made a 15 minute TV show EVERY SINGLE DAY for the 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 that I handled that power incorrectly. It won’t happen again.

“I love everyone. I believe in people. I’m out here. Peace.”

(Can’t see the tweet above? Click here)

In a second video posted this evening, he said:

“I have made a severe and continuous lapse in my judgement and I don’t expect to be forgiven – I am simply here to apologise.”

He said that what happened in the woods in Japan was unplanned, and that the reactions captured on the video were “raw and unfiltered”.

“None of us knew how to react or how to feel. I should have never posted the video. I should have put the cameras down and stopped recording what we were going through. There were a lot of things I should have been doing differently but I didn’t. And for that, from the bottom of my heart, I am sorry.”

He apologised to the internet, anyone who saw the video, anyone touched by mental illness, and to the victim and his family.

For my fans who are defending my actions, please don’t; they do not deserve to be defended.

He concluded by saying he is disappointed in himself and that he promises to do better.

If you need to talk, please contact:

  • Samaritans 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org
  • Aware 1800 80 48 48 (depression, anxiety)
  • Pieta House 1800 247 247 or email mary@pieta.ie (suicide, self-harm)
  • Teen-Line Ireland 1800 833 634 (for ages 13 to 19)
  • Childline 1800 66 66 66 (for under 18s)

Read: Mother of 11-year-old who took her own life set up suicide support group >

Read: ‘I idolised him’: Aisling Bea writes powerful article about her father’s suicide >

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46 Comments
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    Mute FlyingDogThing
    Favourite FlyingDogThing
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    Jan 2nd 2018, 10:39 AM

    Who?

    573
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    Mute Leroy
    Favourite Leroy
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    Jan 2nd 2018, 10:53 AM

    @FlyingDogThing: A millionaire from youtube

    142
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    Mute Simon Moore
    Favourite Simon Moore
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    Jan 2nd 2018, 1:15 PM

    @FlyingDogThing: I’m getting old, I had to google this chap.

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    Mute Jas
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    Jan 2nd 2018, 3:43 PM

    @FlyingDogThing: all publicly is good publicity he’ll get a couple hundred thousand more subs from this check back in 2 weeks see if his subs haven’t grown….

    12
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    Mute Kieran Stafford
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    Jan 2nd 2018, 4:31 PM

    @Simon Moore: i don’t know who he is either anymore thankfully

    8
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    Mute Ciaran O Shea
    Favourite Ciaran O Shea
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    Jan 2nd 2018, 11:07 AM

    Unless Youtube and Twitter remove his account he couldn’t care.
    He’ll probably make more out of the controversy as people will view the video who never would have before.

    153
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    Mute K Lawlor
    Favourite K Lawlor
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    Jan 2nd 2018, 11:22 AM

    @Ciaran O Shea: like every contraversy with this guy, his subsciber count will only grow.

    43
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    Mute Dave O Keeffe
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    Jan 2nd 2018, 1:09 PM

    @Ciaran O Shea: video was deleted

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    Mute casey
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    Jan 2nd 2018, 8:13 PM

    @Dave O Keeffe: it’s still on YouTube just watched it.

    1
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    Mute Dave O Keeffe
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    Jan 2nd 2018, 9:05 PM

    @casey: oh cool, sure post a link, help others to get this poor guy up from his stumble

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    Mute Dj
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    Jan 2nd 2018, 10:47 AM

    What’s a YouTube star?

    119
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    Mute Andrew Mac Mahon
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    Jan 2nd 2018, 10:54 AM

    @Dj: a person irrelevant to anyone over a certain age but who still makes millions a year by posting YouTube videos

    228
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    Mute Record Sunshine
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    Jan 2nd 2018, 11:36 AM

    @Dj: I thought you were 33, not 83.

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    Mute Presuming Ed
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    Jan 2nd 2018, 11:38 AM

    @Dj: I thought you were 33, not 83…

    13
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    Mute Deborah Behan
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    Jan 2nd 2018, 1:52 PM

    @Dj: someone who has a lot of uncensored influence on a lot of kids today. Scary, scary thought.

    30
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    Mute Chamillionaire
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    Jan 2nd 2018, 10:52 AM

    Guy makes millions through his youtube fame , time for it to end

    96
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    Mute Johnnie Sexton
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    Jan 2nd 2018, 1:41 PM

    @Chamillionaire: never heard of the lil turd till now….

    35
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    Mute Shannon Mcg
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    Jan 2nd 2018, 12:52 PM

    I hope Logan Paul’s career is thoroughly destroyed after this.

    69
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    Mute Johnnie Sexton
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    Jan 2nd 2018, 3:29 PM

    @Shannon Mcg: hopefully but doubt it unfortunately. Just another bored shameless ritch kid

    27
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    Mute Fiona deFreyne
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    Jan 2nd 2018, 11:03 AM

    It’s just a game of attention seeking sensationalism by Logan Paul and by Piers Morgan. It is a meaningless controversy.

    57
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    Mute Mo
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    Jan 3rd 2018, 1:52 AM

    @Fiona deFreyne: “meaningless controversy” uploading a video of him and his dic# head friends laughing and mocking a poor guy who took his own life and then just Incase the “meaningless controversy” didn’t hit the “wow aren’t we so cool” he then went on to video his actual suicide end of life scene what joy that must have been for the poor guys family and friends to see! He’s a disgusting pos

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    Mute Jonathan Gaffey
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    Jan 2nd 2018, 12:20 PM

    To see his face when they found the dead body it was like he won the lottery. He literally could not stop smiling!!.

    67
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    Mute Mr Phil Officer
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    Jan 2nd 2018, 12:32 PM

    @Jonathan Gaffey: I find it hard to believe they never thought to see if there was still time to resuscitate the unfortunate soul, thinking of how much money they were going to make from the misery of others seems to have been their sole motivation.

    52
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    Mute Stephen Devlin
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    Jan 2nd 2018, 11:19 AM

    Imagine finding a body in a suicide forest ? What’s the shock here?

    28
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    Mute Mr Phil Officer
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    Jan 2nd 2018, 12:09 PM

    @Stephen Devlin: they could have checked for signs of live, called the emergency services, they could have did many things but they stood there laughing, it’s not human. His reasoning for making the video was to garner views and make money and he used the misfortune and desperation of others to do it, a reflection of how selfish modern society has become, reminds me of another story I read were a group of young people stood laughing at a drowning man, there’s a serious narcissistic streak in the social media generation.

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    Mute Ebony
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    Jan 2nd 2018, 1:32 PM

    @Mr Phil Officer: ‘social media generation’? Nah he’s just a (unt

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    Mute Deborah Behan
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    Jan 2nd 2018, 1:56 PM

    @Stephen Devlin: he even went through the pockets of the dead body while mocking him and only scrambled his face so his family could still identify him. He did not call the authorities or convey that suicide is wrong and a last resort. He’s a piece of human garbage.

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    Mute Steve Ashmore
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    Jan 2nd 2018, 2:15 PM

    @Mr Phil Officer: You clearly haven’t seen the video so by what you have said above.

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    Mute Mr Phil Officer
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    Jan 2nd 2018, 2:33 PM

    @Steve Ashmore: For the privacy and dignity of the dead person I refuse to watch the video, the details in the article tell me enough.

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    Mute David Hennigan
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    Jan 2nd 2018, 10:40 AM

    A notorous troll trolled people… …again. no story here.

    48
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    Mute sarah o rourke
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    Jan 2nd 2018, 2:16 PM

    Rarely I agree piers Morgan but I do here. No excuses for such nasty behaviour. This YouTuber has so many young viewers and should have know better. Also his apology was very poor.

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    Mute Fiona deFreyne
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    Jan 2nd 2018, 12:38 PM

    Stir up controversy in a shocking way, provoke outrage, deliver pre-prepared apology which emphases your own importance and influence, hope that Piers Morgan or someone like that attacks you. Result massive increase in notoriety and popularity.

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    Mute Daniel Murray
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    Jan 2nd 2018, 2:45 PM

    He’s some gimp that lad.

    21
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    Mute Austin Rock
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    Jan 2nd 2018, 1:10 PM

    @Dj: A shining light of hope – to some, a new breed of low life to many

    12
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    Mute Martin
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    Jan 2nd 2018, 2:43 PM

    What Piers said +1

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    Mute Steve Austin
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    Jan 2nd 2018, 12:57 PM

    Another of these youtube “stars” who shows the world how much of an arsehole they are. Hopefully that’s the end of him.

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    Mute Gareth Cooney
    Favourite Gareth Cooney
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    Jan 2nd 2018, 7:00 PM

    He should be banned from Twitter and You tube any all social media for his actions on posting the video. He should be charged and fined also boycotted for his pathetic attempt at apologizing.
    He should be made to make a large contribution to the victims family.

    14
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    Mute SkylineSi
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    Jan 2nd 2018, 7:41 PM

    Never heard of her

    5
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    Mute Ollie Watson
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    Jan 2nd 2018, 6:51 PM

    Cringiest Youtuber going no one likes the Yank you tubers

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    Mute Sheila Bedford
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    Jan 2nd 2018, 6:54 PM

    Suicide is not something to joke about he is just an idiot

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    Mute @aidoroch
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    Jan 2nd 2018, 9:55 PM

    Terribly poor taste but most likely just a hoax.

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    Mute Patrick j Brady
    Favourite Patrick j Brady
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    Jan 2nd 2018, 6:52 PM

    Talentless dick

    14
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