Source: Gabe Ginsberg / Getty
Paul has over 15 million subscribers to his YouTube channel. He first became popular through his videos on Vine among other websites.
(CNN) – A popular YouTube personality says he intended for a video showing the body of an apparent suicide victim in Japan to raise awareness of suicide and suicide prevention.
The video, which was uploaded on Sunday, showed 22-year-old Logan Paul and his friends at a place known as the “suicide forest” due to the high number of suicides that take place there.
In the clip, Paul and the group come upon what appears to be a suicide victim hanging from a tree. They then react to what they see.
Critics blasted the video for being tasteless and offensive, and Paul pulled it from his YouTube page.
https://twitter.com/AnnaAkana/status/948080312159895552
Paul also apologized, saying his original intent was to raise awareness for suicide and suicide prevention. He pledged not to do something similar again.
“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. I intended to raise awareness for suicide and suicide prevention and while I thought ‘if this video saves just ONE life, it’ll be worth it,’ I was misguided by shock and awe,” Paul wrote.
Google, which owns YouTube, has not said whether Paul violated the site’s terms of service with the video.
Paul claimed in the video he would not be making money off the content.
READ MORE: Cleveland19.com
Article Courtesy of CNN and WOIO Cleveland 19 News
First Picture Courtesy of Newscast, YouTube, and Getty Images
Second Picture Courtesy of Gabe Ginsberg, YouTube, and Getty Images
Third Picture and First and Second Tweet Courtesy of Twitter, CNN, and WOIO Cleveland 19 News
Video Courtesy of Facebook, NowThis, and YouTube
