YouTube is now cutting ties with YouTuber Logan Paul after the latter's controversial video of an apparent suicide victim. The video-centric social media platform has now reportedly dropped Paul as a preferred partner and even began removing him from projects as punishment.
YouTube has also tweeted a statement denouncing Paul's actions, which came off as insensitive and ignorant.
"Suicide is not a joke, nor should it ever be a driving force for views. As Anna Akana put it perfectly: 'That body was a person someone loved. You do not walk into a suicide forest with a camera and claim mental health awareness.' We expect more of the creators who build their community on @YouTube, as we're sure you do too. The channel violated our community guidelines, we acted accordingly, and we are looking at further consequences," read YouTube's statement on Twitter, hence the punishment for Paul's channel which had 15 million subscribers.
On top of that, the company has also decided to remove Paul's channels from Google Preferred, a service that gives content creators access to top-tier advertising revenue. They also scrapped the production of a YouTube original movie that he was set to appear in, along with his being removed from season 4 of the YouTube Red series "Foursome."
Paul came under fire after posting the video of him and his buddies hiking in the Aokigahara forest near Mount Fuji, which has a reputation for being a popular spot for suicides. Paul and his friends consequently came across a body hanging from a tree in what appears to be suicide by hanging. It seems the viewers saw Paul's reactions in the video as disrespectful and joking out of place, which drew a storm of criticisms and has damaged the credibility of the YouTuber.
Paul did issue an apology later claiming that he was ashamed of himself and he did not expect to be forgiven for his actions and even promised to be a better person. His video was also taken down after being viewed 6 million times.
Paul has then promised to focus on advocating suicide awareness and apologizing to the victim and his family, and he is fully aware that he might need to do a lot more than talking in order to make amends.
