By YouTuber Logan Paul has been forced to apologise following a backlash over a video he posted showing the body of an apparent suicide victim.
The 22-year-old, who has more than 15 million subscribers on Youtube, uploaded the video on Sunday (December 31) showing himself and his friends visiting Aokigahara forest at the base of Mt Fuji in Japan.
While there have been a few documentaries on the the "haunted" forest, Logan Paul's video included actual footage of a dead body – where only the face is blurred out – and audio of the group laughing and joking about the "dead guy".
Ironically, the swear words were reportedly censored on his video, in order to not offend any of the YouTuber's 15.2 million subscribers; but the body was apparently clear for everyone to see.
Understandably, the video, which has now been taken down, caused outrage, with viewers calling the post "disrespectful" and "disgusting".
Taking to Twitter, one person wrote: "Dear @LoganPaul, When my brother found my sister's body, he screamed with horror & confusion & grief & tried to save her. That body was a person someone loved. You do not walk into a suicide forest with a camera and claim mental health awareness."
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Someone else said: "The worst part is Logan Paul's cult fan base is little children. Who just watched their idol laugh and joke as someone ended their life. Garbage person."
Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul added: "How dare you! You disgust me.
"I can't believe that so many young people look up to you. So sad. Hopefully this latest video woke them up. You are pure trash. Plain and simple. Suicide is not a joke. Go rot in hell."
In a statement, the vlogger has since said: "I'm sorry. This is a first for me. I've never faced criticism like this before, because I've never made a mistake like this before. 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 views. I get views. 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, as portrayed in the video. I still am.
"I do this shit 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 & with great power comes great responsibility... for the first time in my life I'm regretful to say I handled that power incorrectly. It won't happen again."
The identity of the deceased man is not known. Japan has one of the highest rates of suicide in the developed world.
Suicide is preventable. Readers who are affected by the issues raised in this story are encouraged to contact Samaritans on 116 123 (www.samaritans.org), or Mind on 0300 123 3393 (www.mind.org.uk). Readers in the US are encouraged to contact the National Suicide Prevention Line on 1-800-273-8255.
