These Logan Paul stans aren’t giving up their fandom any time soon
YouTuber megastar Logan Paul was in hot water last week after he posted a video that apparently showed a dead body in Japan’s so-called “Suicide Forest.” The online peanut gallery said this would be sure to sink Logan’s career, but we interviewed some Logan Paul super-fans and they don’t seem too bothered by it.
Logan, 22, first gained fame through the app Vine (we miss u, Vine) with his six-second pranks. He has a huge following on his YouTube, where he posts vlogs — aka videos about himself and his day-to-day life. He has over 15 million followers on his YouTube channel, which is a huge following for someone who seems to bring nothing to the table other than his crazy antics and poorly thought out (and almost always offensive) pranks.
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In early January, Logan Paul visited the Aokigahara forest in Japan. Aokigahara is darkly nicknamed the “Suicide Forest,” because it’s said that many people go there to commit suicide. The forest has also historically been associated with death, and it is Japanese legend that many ghosts haunt the forest.
Logan’s entire trip to Japan was pretty offensive, as you can see in the photo above. A recent video of his emerged showing him and his friends disrupting the Japanese way of life, poking around in a koi pond, throwing things at people, and more.
This, however, was the icing on the shitty tourist cake.
Logan planned to camp out at the Aokigahara forest overnight with his two friends and a hired Japanese bodyguard/translator. They went to the forest with film equipment, a tent, and various camping supplies. In the video, you can also see Logan jokingly wearing a Toy Story alien hat and an embroidered Gucci jacket. In Logan’s own words, “I will say, if I’m getting haunted by a ghost, I’m gonna do it in my fucking Gucci jacket. I want to look good.”
As Logan and his friends enter the forest, they find what looks like the dead body of a victim of suicide. The camera then shows a man hanging from a tree with his face blurred out, as Logan yells, “Hello? Are you alive? Yo, are you fucking with us?” Yes, he posted this on YouTube for 15 million plus people to have access to.
Throughout the video, Logan and his friends awkwardly laugh about the suicide victim while Logan tries to sound as though he’s an advocate for victims of suicide. Logan repeatedly says, “Suicide is no joke,” while clearly joking about it.
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Even though Logan blurred out the face of the victim, the damage was already done.
There were so many times that Logan could have used his better judgment to not post the video, but he still did it anyway. Not only did Logan mock Japan, he also mocked a victim, the victim’s family, and everyone affected by suicide and mental illness around the world.
We noticed that even after all of the backlash from the video, many people were still self-proclaimed Logan Paul fans. Young women were tweeting at their followers to plead with people to forgive him and give him a second chance. We asked several of these young women why they felt that Logan should deserve a second chance and they all had one consensus — that he’s human.
They all agree that it was a mistake, though. None of the fans I spoke to (all of whom wished to remain anonymous) support the video, they just die-hard support Logan.
“At first, I did lose respect for him,” one fan said. “But, after watching his apology video, I just forgave him.”
Logan posted an apology video after the backlash he received, and he said that he was going to take a break from vlogging to reflect on what he had done. It seems that Logan’s fans, no matter what he’s done, will be there to defend him.
“He was really trying to spread awareness,” another fan told Galore. “The news outlets aren’t saying anything about how he talked about suicide prevention and that everyone has a place in this world. Logan is worth defending because he is just another person in the world that deserves to have chances.”
“It was wrong, yes, but it was a mistake,” said another fan.
One of the fans also said that she thinks it’s okay he posted the video because “the purpose of the video was to prevent suicide, and to know that you are not alone.”
But, it’s worth noting that Logan did not raise awareness to anything really. He didn’t advertise the video as a PSA of any kind and didn’t discuss mental health awareness, he just rambled on about how “everyone has a place in this world.” He also repeatedly made jokes and laughed at the act of suicide, making his claims of raising awareness even less believable. His friends laughing and dicking around in the background didn’t help either.
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“Okay, so what? He is still a human being and we, as humans, make mistakes. I do, you do, everyone does,” said one of the fans. “Logan is a good guy and an amazing human being, he just make one mistake and he deserves a second chance, just like we all deserve,” said another.
One fan also mentioned that Logan had been getting death threats online after the video was posted. While Logan made a colossal mistake, he is by no means free game for death threats. It’s definitely interesting that those mad about his video are sending him violent messages, seemingly doing the same wrong that he did.
However, he still did something pretty fucking vile. And yes, Logan is human, but he is also an adult and should have known better than to film and joke about a dead victim and try to pass it off as raising any type of awareness.
So, should we write off Logan Paul completely? Maybe not — that’s up to you. But, should we hold him accountable for his actions? Absolutely. Logan Paul’s decision to take a break from vlogging shows a good sense of personal understanding, but he has a long way to go on the road to self-reflection. An apology is just not enough. We need to hold those with platforms like his accountable for their actions, and we need to demand that they simply do better.
Logan Paul’s actions have proven that we need to focus on raising mental health awareness. Because it’s not just Logan Paul. There are so many people with a massive platform that do similar indecent and disrespectful things. It’s time to force them to act differently. The only reason anyone has a platform is because of their fans, so it’s time for fans to hold their celebs more accountable.
Yes, we are all human, but we as humans need to keep each other in check. Let’s all strive to do so in 2018 so that history doesn’t repeat itself.
If you or someone you know are experiencing thoughts of self-harm or suicide, please reach out to either the Suicide Prevention Lifeline or the Crisis Text Line. You can even call or text them just to talk.