Japanese police want to question YouTube star Logan Paul over the « insensitive » video of a man hanging in Japan’s so-called « suicide forest »
JAPANESE police want to question YouTube star Logan Paul over the « insensitive » video of a man hanging in Japan’s so-called « suicide forest ».
Paul, 22, who has over 15 million followers, issued a second apology after he was unanimously criticised for laughing with friends about the body they filmed hanging from a tree.
Masaki Ito, spokesman for the Yamanashi prefectural police, said people are not obligated to report a body but want to speak to him as a suicide may be involved.
Paul’s team is shown in his original video calling police and emergency officials appearing at the scene. Local police overseeing the forest area in Paul’s video have declined comment as Japanese authorities tend not to comment on suicides.
Japan has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, with more than 21,000 people killing themselves every year.
Suicide does not have the same religious stigma in Japan as in other cultures – and has even been portrayed as an honourable way to take responsibility.
In his second apology, a video titled « So sorry », Paul said: « I’ve made a severe and continuous lapse in my judgment and I don’t expect to be forgiven. I’m simply here to apologise.
« I’ve made a huge mistake. I don’t expect to be forgiven… I’m ashamed of myself. I am disappointed.
He added that: the shots of he and his friends laughing nervously after the discovery of the body were « raw and unfiltered » reactions and that the video should never have been posted or even filmed.
