U.S. YouTube star sorry for video of apparent suicide victim in Japan

Tokyo — American YouTube star Logan Paul has apologized after receiving a barrage of criticism for posting a video showing a body in a Japanese forest known as a suicide spot, media reported Jan. 3.

The 22-year-old YouTuber, who has more than 15 million subscribers on the video-sharing website, joked in the footage showing him discovering the body of a man who had apparently hanged himself in the Aokigahara forest at the base of Mt. Fuji, according to U.S. and other media. The video, posted on Sunday, has been removed.

Paul apologized to his 3.9 million Twitter followers on Jan. 2, saying, “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 didn’t do it for views…I intended to raise awareness for suicide and suicide prevention,” he added.

Paul also shared a video on his YouTube account at about 2 a.m. Jan. 3, in which he said: “I made a severe and continuous lapse in my judgment and I don’t expect to be forgiven. I am simply here to apologize…I should have put the cameras down, stopped recording what we were going through…I am ashamed of myself.”