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AUSTIN, TEXAS: Joe Rogan once discussed Logan Paul's controversial 'Suicide Forest' video which has since been banned owing to its sensitive subject. Rogan's podcast, 'The Joe Rogan Experience' covers a wide range of topics and has grown to become one of the world's most popular podcasts, with a $200 million deal with Spotify.
Logan Paul is a professional wrestler, actor, and social media influencer. He rose to prominence on the video-sharing app Vine before moving to YouTube, where he now has over 23 million subscribers. He is well-known for his content that is often provocative and offensive, such as filming a dead body in Japan, tasing dead rats, and joking about his sexuality.
'He realized that he f***ed up'
Rogan discussed Paul's one of the most controversial vlogs in which the boxer filmed a man's dead body and was laughing around it. Rogan stated, "He filmed someone who committed suicide in Japan and he put it on YouTube channel. I don't know anything about him but he's a YouTube guy and he's doing stuff that is interesting and provocative and for whatever reason... the dialogue that I'd read was something like that he apologized for it which seemed obviously. Felt terrible about the way people view it."
"He thought he would bring some kind of awareness to suicide but was like a clunky. He just didn't do it right and create the respect that it deserved. He realized that he f***ed up. Basically saying, he's trying to do something and f***ed up. "That disturbs the shit out of us, like joking around. You joke around, but you cannot joke around near dead guy," Rogan further added.
The 55-year-old podcaster said defending Paul, "He didn't do anything. He just showed up and this guy was dead. You know I am not saying he should make fun of him, he definitely shouldn't but it's weird the outrage that we have for it. I'm not defending him. Don't get me wrong. I am just exploring. Sometimes I try to look at things from as many perspective as I can. I don't think you ever want to make fun of someone dying."
Logan Paul's 'Suicide Forest' vlog
The incident occurred during a December 2017 trip to Japan. Paul visited Aokigahara, a forest near Mount Fuji that is infamously known as Japan's 'suicide forest', in one of the numerous vlogs he uploaded on the trip. Paul videotaped himself strolling through the woodland while wearing a green Toy Story hat, emphasizing the "spooky," death-related parts of the forest and including uncensored footage of a guy who appeared to have killed himself.
The video gained 6 million views on its first day, but Paul removed it because people were outraged by his decision to include a video of the ostensibly dead guy. Following widespread criticism, YouTube withdrew Paul from its exclusive Google Preferred advertising tier.
After being chastised for an initial apology note he posted on Twitter, Paul made multiple public requests for forgiveness, including a lengthy YouTube video and a slew of interviews. Paul returned to YouTube after a three-week absence with a seven-minute video promoting suicide awareness and a vow to donate $1 million to the cause.
Paul apologized for the incident and blamed parents for not monitoring their children's shows. He believes parents should be more vigilant in monitoring their children's content. Paul acknowledges that he made a bad decision, but acknowledges that he is a good guy who made a mistake.
