Jake Paul has finally spoken out about the controversial video that his brother, Logan Paul, made in Japan’s so-called “suicide forest” last month.
Jake, 21, uploaded a 13-minute vlog titled “YouTube, Let’s Talk About Brother Logan Paul” on Monday, January 22. However, the majority of the video shows Jake and his friends laughing and pranking one another. It is not until the 11-minute mark that he sits down on a couch and addresses the issue.
“I wanted to let the situation have some time to breathe,” Jake told his 13.3 million subscribers. “I know Logan was going through a lot and everyone was talking about it. It didn’t feel right to comment on it right away. But as his brother and as someone who knows Logan the best, I do feel its necessary to say something about it.”
He continued, “I think what Logan did was very, very, very, very wrong, and he made a huge mistake. And not only is he paying for it, but he is learning from it. I think that in no way, shape, or form is suicide a joke or should be made fun of in any, shape, or form. … I don’t think it’s right what he did at all.”
Jake went on to defend his 22-year-old brother, saying, “He did not mean to offend anyone. … He didn’t handle the situation the right way but I know, in the back of his head, he didn’t mean to offend or hurt anybody or create such a big frustration. And he is honestly, truly, truly sorry.”
Logan came under fire after he uploaded a video on December 31 of himself and a group of friends discovering the corpse of a man who appeared to have hung himself from a tree in Aokigahara forest. He deleted the vlog shortly after facing backlash and apologized on both Twitter and YouTube. “I have made a severe and continuous lapse in my judgment and I don’t expect to be forgiven,” he said in a January 2 video.
In response to the controversy, YouTube removed Logan from its Google Preferred premium advertising service on January 10 and halted production on his upcoming projects.
If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
