YouTube warn 'further consequences' for Logan Paul as they finally respond to 'Suicide Forest' controversy

It has been over a week since YouTuber Logan Paul sparked outrage with a controversial video that featured the corpse of a suicide victim on his popular channel.

Although the video was removed soon after it was posted, and in spite of online protests for Logan to be stripped of his YouTube account – which has over 15million subscribers – , YouTube only officially responded last night [9 January].

Taking to their social media page last night, YouTube at last released a statement about Logan’s shocking upload, warning that he could still face “further consequences”.

They wrote: “Like many others, we were upset by the video that was shared last week.

“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.”

Addressing why they took so long to publicly address the furore, YouTube added: “It’s taken us a long time to respond, but we’ve been listening to everything you’ve been saying.

“We know that the actions of one creator can affect the entire community, so we’ll have more to share soon on steps we’re taking to ensure a video like this is never circulated again.”

In Logan’s controversial video, he and his friends come across a dead body in Japan’s Aokigahara Forest, a famous suicide spot, and appear to make light of the incredibly upsetting situation, even joking about whether they’d seen a dead body before as Logan zoomed in on the body and commented that the deceased person’s hands look “purple”.

As well as the YouTube community, Logan was slammed by celebrities – including fellow YouTuber PewDiePie, Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul, and Game Of Thrones’ actress Sophie Turner – who also criticised Logan’s “self-praising apology” that he had released in the wake of the backlash.

However, the outrage didn’t end there with Twitter account We The Unicorn later sharing a video montage featuring other moments from Logan’s trip to Japan, proving that the ‘Suicide Forest’ video was not his only controversial moment.

Editing together a series of shocking moments that feature in Logan’s own Japan vlogs, We The Unicorn wrote: “Turns out Logan Paul’s trip to Japan was problematic for many reasons.”

In the two minute and 15 second clip, Logan and his friends can be seen throwing Pokemon Poke-balls at cars and members of the public, smashing up a Gameboy before complaining to a shopkeeper that it is faulty, and seemingly mocking Japanese culture as he donned traditional garments, repeatedly stating that it’s “important not to disrespect the culture”.

The tweet immediately went viral, with people calling for Logan to be banned from YouTube following his controversial and insensitive behaviour.

Yahoo Celeb UK have contacted Logan’s rep for comment.

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