Lending new weight to the term “ugly American,” popular vlogger Logan Paul recently posted video of an apparent suicide victim in Japan’s Aokigahara forest to his YouTube channel. It was part of a travelogue series he seems to be doing while in Japan, where he’s also played Pokémon Go and pretended to be kicked out of the country, all clear signs of an authentic, immersive experience.
But Paul managed to one-up himself while on his trip, going from stupid staged fights to showing off a dead body—you know, to inform the kids. As The Washington Post reports, Paul uploaded a video to his “Logan Paul Vlogs” channel over the weekend, in which he and his companions went to Aokigahara, which is, sadly, an all-too-common site for suicide. The video’s since been taken down, but it apparently showed footage of a suicide victim. Paul introduced the video by calling it “the most real vlog I have ever posted on this channel” and “a moment in YouTube history.” He now claims he wanted to raise awareness about mental health and suicide rate (which is exceptionally high in Japan), something he seems to have thought could only be accomplished by showing an actual corpse.
Several of Paul’s YouTube contemporaries immediately began posting responses to his callous endeavor, a backlash that’s since spread beyond the video service. Aaron Paul, one of the better Pauls out there, also took the “self-described blond white guy from Ohio” to task on Twitter.
“You disgust me,” the Breaking Bad star wrote not long after the lesser Paul tweeted this bullshit apology to his followers. The roughly 200-word statement includes exactly two remorseful phrases—“I’m sorry” and “I’m regretful”—but has multiple references to the views Paul gets, the “15 minute TV show” he puts on “EVERY SINGLE DAY,” and again, his extensive reach.
Somehow, it’s not that shocking to learn that this is the first time Paul has “faced criticism like this.” This huge error in judgment brings him one step closer to brother Jake Paul, a former YouTube star and just all-around terrible person.