Logan Paul

About

Logan Paul is an American vlogger and aspiring actor who gained much notoriety online by releasing short comedy videos on Vine.

Online History

In 2013, Paul launched a video feed on Vine^[1] while attending Ohio University. On November 13th, 2013, Paul posted a compilation of clips from his Vine account on YouTube, which gathered upwards of 7.2 million views and 2,500 comments in the next two years (shown below, left). On November 18th, 2013, Paul was a guest on the morning talk show Today,^[7] where he discussed his online fame and took over the program's Vine feed (shown below, right).

On February 18th, 2014, Paul released another compilation of Vines on YouTube, which garnered more than 1.3 million views and 940 comments in two years (shown below, left). On July 18th, 2015, Paul uploaded a Vine titled "Kitty Cat Car Jump," in which he appears to dodge cars on a busy street in order to save a cat crossing the road (shown below, right). Following the video's release, many speculated that it was faked using video editing techniques.

In September, Paul began posting Vines of himself pranking pedestrians in New York City but spontaneous performing split poses. On August 29th, the Try not to laugh YouTube channel uploaded a montage of the clips, gathering more than one million views and 280 comments in the first 48 hours.^[8]

Social Media Presence

Paul has gained a substantial online following since joining Vine in 2013. As of September 2015, Paul has over 8.4 million Vine subscribers, 2.2 million Facebook^[4] likes, 1.6 million Instagram^[2] followers, 563,000 Twitter^[3] followers and 364,000 YouTube subscribers.

Intimidation Game

On February 11th, 2015, an episode of the American TV police drama Law and Order: Special Victims Unit aired titled "Intimidation Game". The episode, which became infamous for its oversimplification of the events surrounding the Quinnspiracy and GamerGate, features Logan Paul in the guest cast for the role of one of the villains. Prior and after the airing of the episode, Paul uploaded a Vine related to the episode, which managed to gather respectively over 495,000 and 396,000 likes in the following 7 months.

Reputation

On July 29th, 2015, Tech Insider^[5] published an article titled "Logan Paul has conquered the Internet, but he can't figure out how to conquer the world," which depicted Paul as a naive aspiring actor with questionable talent. On August 12th, BuzzFeed^[6] published a listicle containing factoids about Paul, noting he had a substantial following of teenage girls.

"Suicide Forest" Video Controversy

On December 31st, 2017, Paul uploaded a video to YouTube in which he visited Aokigahara, a forest on Mt. Fuji in Japan colloquially known as the "Suicide Forest" for the unusually high number of suicides that take place there. The video has since been deleted, but received over at least 6.2 million views before then.^[9] In the video, Paul finds a body hanging. Paul went on to say in the video that suicide and depression are serious issues (screenshot shown below).

The video immediately created a wave of controversy as people saw the video as Paul trivializing suicide for the success of his YouTube channel. Criticism on Twitter focused on the presentation of the suicide. For example, Twitter user @GucciFinn tweeted that Paul's actions after discovering the body did not excuse his talks about depression being a serious issue in the video (shown below, left). Actor Aaron Paul (no relation) tweeted his disgust at Logan as well (shown below, right).

YouTube posted a statement on Paul's video, saying their hearts went out to the family of the suicide victim and clarifying their policy on graphic content (shown below).

After a day of backlash, Paul took to Twitter to post screenshots of an apology he'd written on his phone. He stated that he intended to raise awareness about suicide prevention and noted that he made a lot of content every day and was swept up "in the moment" (shown below).

The moment and the backlash made national news and was covered by Twitter Moments,^[10] Select All,^[11] The New York Times,^[12] and more.

Cardi B Instagram Comment

On January 31st, rapper and recording artist Cardi B posted a picture of herself on Instagram ^[18] with the caption "They trinna crucify me like they did Christ." The post (shown below) received more than 1.5 million likes in 24 hours.

Shortly after the post was made, Logan Paul, presumably referring to his ongoing "Suicide Forest vlog" controversy, responded to the comment with "lawlz u tellin me." The comment (shown below, left) received more than 1,900 likes in 18 hours.

This comment was not well-received by Cardi B's followers, who mostly chastised Paul for his comment. The following day, Mashable^[19] published an article about the backlash to Paul's comment.

Good Morning America Interview

On February 1st, 2018, Paul appeared on Good Morning America^[13] for an exclusive interview (shown below). In the interview with GMA's Michael Strahan, Paul discusses his experiences since the infamous video's release, particularly speaking with the parents of children who watch his show and the violent reaction from people online. He believes this his content is not for children and that parents should be "monitoring" what their children watch. He also discusses his being dropped from Google Preferred, which provides advertisers an easier path to content creators.

Online, people were mixed on the interview. Twitter^[14] user @NicoleB1015 tweeted (shown below, left), "@LoganPaul the whole world does not hate you there are still people that love you and that will not turn there back on you just because of 1 mistake that you made i don't hate you at all i still love you no matter what goes on i even bought some of your new merch."

However, Twitter^[15] user @TaylorLorenz took issue with Paul's perception of his fanbase. She wrote, "Logan: 'It's odd, because I'm 22 years old, it's not like I'm making content necessarily for kids.' Ummm half his fan base is like 8 years old there's no way he doesn't recognize that. No 22 year olds watch Logan Paul." The tweet (shown below, center) received more than 360 retweets and 1,600 likes in 12 hours.

Additionally, Twitter^[16] user @dmburrows tweeted, "He keeps making this all about himself. That’s what got him in trouble in the first place." The tweet (shown below, right) received more than 115 retweet and 945 likes in 12 hours.

That day, Twitter^[17] published a Moments page dedicated to the reaction to the interview.

Accusations of Animal Cruelty

On February 5th, 2018, Paul uploaded a video entitled "THE PAULS RESPOND TO THE CSI FIGHT! **called out**." At about 4:50 into the video, Logan hosts a segment called "Get These Rats."^[20] In the segment, Paul shoots a pair of dead rats with a taser. The video (shown below) received more than 8.7 million views in four days.

Two days later, the animal rights organization PETA2 tweeted^[21] the video with the caption "When you think shooting dead rats with a taser will help your channel 🙃😡@LoganPaul -- TRUE mavericks don't find humor in suffering & death. It's time to stop." The post (shown below, left) received more than 1,100 retweets and 2,500 likes in two days.

Additionally, the organization tweeted^[22] at YouTube. They said, "This sort of content has no place on @YouTube or anywhere else, as it could desensitize young people to cruelty to animals, so PETA is calling on the platform to remove it." The tweet (shown below, center) received more than 100 retweets and 490 likes in two days.

Responding to comments regarding the welfare of rats, PETA2 responded,^[23] "All animals have the ability to suffer and feel pain in the same way that human beings do. 💔 Destroying and mocking the bodies of dead animals for shocking video content is never OK. Just imagine a person shooting a Taser at a deceased dog or cat. All animals deserve respect." The tweet (shown below, right) received more than 4,300 retweets and 15,000 likes in 24 hours.

On February 8th, Twitter^[24] user @toontownstaff tweeted about the contradiction between Paul's self-proclaimed respect for the dead following the backlash to his suicide forest video and this new video. The tweet (shown below) received more than 1,000 retweets and 3,600 likes in 24 hours.

That day, Twitter^[25] published a Moments page about the backlash to the video.

YouTube Suspends Ad Revenue

On February 9th, YouTube suspended advertising from Logan Paul's YouTube^[26] page, citing "recent pattern of behavior," which includes the video in which he tased a dead rat and referencing the Tide POD challenge in a since-deleted tweet^[27] (shown below, left).

On February 9th, the official YouTube Creators Twitter^[28] account tweeted, "In response to Logan Paul’s recent pattern of behavior, we’ve temporarily suspended ads on his channels." The post (shown below, right) received more than 11,000 retweets and 56,300 likes in 12 hours.

Less than a month later, YouTube allowed Paul to rejoin their monetization program, despite the fact that his probation had not concluded. However, Paul would still be barred from YouTube's "Google Preferred ads," which is the site's premiums advertising platform made available to top creators. The rest of the probation remained intact, including the pause placed on Paul's YouTube Red series, the removal from YouTube's trending tab and frontpage, as well as YouTube's bar on recommending his videos. Additionally, Paul's vides will not be sent to non-subscribers of his page, keeping them from seeing notifications about his recent videos.

In a statement, YouTube CEO Susan Wjcicki condemned Paul's actions but would not remove him from the site. She said, "He hasn’t done anything that would cause those three strikes. We can’t just be pulling people off our platform. They need to violate a policy. We need to have consistent [rules]."^[29]

Daily Vlog Cancellation

On April 29th, 2018, Paul uploaded a video titled "The End of Logan Paul Vlogs," in which he announced he would no longer uploaded vlog episodes each day (shown below). Within 72 hours, the video accumulated upwards of 4.5 million views and 55,100 comments.

In the video, Paul reveals he will be moving toward other projects, including a show titled Impulsive, claiming that he has "diversified, bro." On May 1st, Paul engaged in a Twitter feud with comedian Chris D'Elia, who challenged him on his claim that it is "important that you watch" his daily vlog cancellation (shown below).

On May 2nd, YouTuber PewDiePie uploaded a video titled "Logan Paul Is Cancelled!" (shown below). In the video, he mocks

The Thinning: New World Order

On January 10th, 2018, due to the suicide forest controversy, YouTube announced that the sequel to Logan's first YouTube Red film The Thinning, The Thinning: New World Order, was placed on hold, along with Paul's other in-development YouTube Red projects.^[30]

However, on October 16th, Paul tweeted the trailer for the film with the caption, "surprise 😈." The tweet received more than 700 retweets and 7,600 likes in 24 hours (shown below).

The following day, the film was released on YouTube Red.

In regards to the release of the film, YouTube stated:

"The entire cast and crew worked extremely hard to complete this film last year. In fairness to all of them and the fans who have been asking for the sequel, we decided to release The Thinning: New World Order."

Possible Flat Earth Beliefs

On November 16th, 2018, Logan Paul spoke at the Second Annual Flat Earth Conference in Denver, Colorado. In his speech, Paul declared himself a believer in the frequently dismissed and mocked conspiracy theory that the Earth is flat, rather than round. He said in his speech, he said, "I consider myself a man of truth, someone who hates being ignorant. I guess I’m not ashamed to say my name is Logan Paul and I think I’m coming out of the Flat Earth closet."

However, despite his speech, in a post conference interview with the Daily Beast, Paul appeared to not invalidate his previous statements, laughing through an explanation of his beliefs. Following the interview, Kelly Weill from The Daily Beast^[31] wrote, "I can say this with confidence: Logan Paul does not believe the Earth is flat. I spoke with him outside the convention center the previous morning, where he tried giving the same Flat Earth stump speech through giggles."

Despite there being evidence that Paul is trolling, some on Twitter expressed concerned that Paul's fanbase not know the difference and that Paul could potentially inspire interest in the conspiracy theory (examples below).

On November 18th, the Flat Earth Society^[36] took to Twitter to announce that they will not be granting Logan Paul membership and that the Flat Earth International Conference are not affiliated with the Flat Earth Society (shown below). Their initial tweet gained 1,000 retweets and 3,370 likes.

On November 19th, YouTuber Celebrate Truth uploaded a video of Logan Paul talking to the Flat Earth Conference Founder (shown below). The video gained 41,000 views and 1,300 likes in a year.

On March 8th, 2019, Paul^[38] announced on Twitter that "the flat earth documentary will be released by the end of the month. i promise. it’s the greatest thing i’ve ever made" (shown below, left). The tweet garnered 300 retweets and 7,900 likes in three days. On March 10th, Logan Paul^[37] responded to Tana Mongeau's question "what are ur favorite documentaries? like popular GOOD ones" (shown below, right). He responded with his own upcoming documentary "The Flat Earth – To The Edge And Back." The response accumulated 46 retweets and 1,500 likes in a day.

On March 10th, Logan Paul^[39] introduced the trailer for the documentary on Twitter (shown below, left). The tweet gained 300 retweets and 4,600 likes in a day. The trailer gained 875,900 views and 54,000 likes in a day.

That day, Many Twitter users responded to the trailer and criticized its similarity to Shane Dawson's docu-series Conspiracy Theories (shown below).

Flat Earth: To The Edge and Back

On March 20th, 2019, Logan Paul uploaded the 50 minute Movie Flat Earth: To The Edge and Back to YouTube (shown below). The video gained 1.15 million views in the first day.

Many Twitter users reacted positively to the movie. BBC Reporter, Dave Lee,^[40] tweeted, "Ok, that Logan Paul Flat Earth documentary is excellent. I mean it. A really clever film… I was second-guessing the whole way through. If you don't get the joke, you perhaps are the joke. Sacha Baron Cohen eat your heart out" (shown below, left). The tweet gained 1,800 likes in a day. Paul retweeted Lee's tweet and Lee tweeted in response: "A Logan Paul retweet is not what I needed tonight. The man has done a lot of extremely childish, insensitive things. But this work of satire is smartly done and will likely reach many young people most at risk of disappearing down YouTube conspiracy rabbit holes." Former boxing opponent KSI^[41] responded to Paul's movie release announcement by tweeting "I really hit you that hard huh?" (shown below, right). The tweet gained 19,800 retweets and 170,461 likes.

"Gay for a Month" Challenge

On January 9th, 2019, YouTube account Impaulsive Podcast interviewed Logan Paul, who stated that as part of a series of month-based challenges for 2019, he would be doing a "male-only March," in which he stated he would "go gay" for a month (shown below).

The comments offended those who felt Paul appeared to be jumping on homosexuality as a trend or choice. For example, Twitter user @reyeslindseys made a post condemning Paul that gained over 2,000 retweets and 10,000 likes (shown below, left). User @manchasxavin made a joke about Paul arriving to the LGBTQ community in dead silence and disapproving looks, gaining over 1,200 retweets (shown below, right).

The backlash was covered by multiple outlets including Twitter Events^[32] and Mashable.^[33] In response to a condemnation by LGBTQ rights activist group GLAAD, Paul tweeted that it had been a "very poor choice of words" and invited the group onto his podcast (shown below).

On January 21st, a video of Logan Paul attempting to clarify his "going gay" comment with LGBTQ activist Josh Seefried was uploaded to the Impaulsive Podcast channel on YouTube (shown below). The video accumulated 363,336 views, 20,000 likes and 1,400 dislikes in two days. In the discussion, Paul blamed his delayed response to the backlash on getting his tonsils removed and wanting to broadcast a discussion with an expert on the subject. The expert was Josh Seefried, a member of the United States Air Force and LGBTQ community. Paul admits to having used a "poor choice of words" but then deflects to Joe Rogan's homophobic remarks. Seefried and Paul go on to discuss word-choice, what is and isn't funny and that deciding to experiment with sexuality is acceptable.

On January 22nd, many news outlets reported that Logan Paul only half-apologized. For example, Perez Hilton posted a Tweet^[34] stating that Paul defended himself (shown below, left). The same day, Josh Seefried responded^[35] to Hilton's Tweet (shown below, right).

Sociopathic Tendencies

On September 25th, 2018, YouTuber Shane Dawson uploaded "The Mind of Jake Paul" which analyzed the sociopathic tendencies of Logan Paul's brother Jake Paul. The video gained 24 million views and one million likes in five months (shown below).

On September 30th, Logan Paul responded with a video stating that Jake and himself are on a "sociopathic spectrum" and "have sociopath tendencies" (shown below). The video accumulated six million views and 214 likes.

On February 24th, 2019, Logan Paul uploaded a video of himself getting a brain scan. The brain scan revealed that he lacks vital activity in the pre-frontal cortex, which can cause trouble with empathy, impulsivity and human connection. The video garnered over one million views and 91,000 likes within 24 hours (shown below)

On March 1st, 2019, Logan Paul took to Twitter to dispel any myths surrounding his brain scan. At the end of the video, Paul tells those spreading the rumor that the scan was faked to "suck a d***" (shown below). The tweet gained 1,100 retweets and 14,900 likes in three days.

Being a "YouTuber" Is Wack

On March 23rd, 2019, Logan Paul posted a rant about being a YouTuber on his Instagram stories (shown below). In the rant, he stated that "being a 'YouTuber' is wack."

On March 24, 2019, @KeemStar posted a video to Twitter in responding to Paul's statement (shown below). Keem says that Logan Paul is wrong about wanting to do "mainstream HollyWood" work and that being a YouTuber is the superior creative way as content creators don't have to run their ideas by a full office of people.

On March 28th, 2019, Logan Paul was interviewed in a DramaAlert video with YouTuber Keem where he addressed the Instagram rant. In the video, Logan discussed his jealousy and the indecision he has about whether being a YouTuber is the right thing for him. The video gained 942,900 views and 47,000 likes in a day (shown below).

Kong's Death

On April 7th, 2019, Paul released a video entitled "rip kong." In the video, the YouTuber explained that his Pomeranian dog Kong had been killed by coyotes. Within one month, the video received more than 11 million views (shown below).

On April 23rd, 2019, Paul posted an image of himself with a pillow made in Kong's likeness on Instagram, announcing that he would be producing and selling pillows of the dog for charity.^[42] He captioned the post, "young doggie may no longer be on this planet, but we’ve preserved his legacy in this exclusive, world class @KongDaSavage pillow, now available. ALL proceeds go to the West Valley Animal Shelter (@friendsofwestvalley) to help raise money & awareness about coyotes and keep the people & pets of Los Angeles safe. they took my son… but at least i have this pillow, it’s good at absorbing tears." The post received more than 647,000 likes in 24 hours (shown below).

Russian Slap Competition

On May 21st, 2019, Logan Paul^[43] announced on Twitter: "After an unfortunate incident at practice today, I’ve decided not to compete in the Russian Slap Competition" (shown below). The tweet gained over 13,800 likes and 592 retweets in three days.

On May 22nd, RT^[44] reported that Russian slapper Vasiliy “Dumping” Kamotskiy said:"He's a pussy. Tell that to him straight!" That same day, Logan Paul posted a video of himself practicing his slapping and knocking out his opponent (shown below). The video gained over 39,800 likes and 4,700 retweets in two days.

The next day, Travis Mills interviewed Logan Paul and asked him about pulling out of the competition in a video posted to YouTube (shown below). The video gained over 18,900 views in a day.

On June 9th, Logan Paul Vlogs uploaded a video titled, "The Slap that Changed My Life…" (shown below). The video received over 3.8 million views and 214,000 likes in a day. The video gives an in-depth explanation of why Paul backed out of the competition. He confirms that he had already spent over 30,000 dollars on the trip to Russia but that he was scared after he knocked out a man while practicing and gave him amnesia.

Fox Business Interview

On July 22nd, 2019, Logan Paul was interviewed on Fox Business to comment on Facebook versus YouTube (shown below). The full interview video gained over 65,600 views in a day on YouTube. Paul had little to say on the set topic and instead mentions his financial problems and pink eye. He also asserts that he is an ex-controversial YouTuber and the fastest man alive, in reference to an Olympics-style YouTuber competition happening on July 27th.

That same day, Twitter user @JordanUhl posted a supercut of the interview (shown below). The tweet gained over 15,800 retweets and 97,000 likes in a day.

On July 22nd, many Twitter users mocked the interview. Twitter user @eraserheadsmash^[45] posted an image of an unimpressed looking man captioned, "logan paul: 'i’m an ex controversial youtuber'" (shown below, left). The tweet garnered over 1,300 likes in a day. The next day, Jake Paul^[46] retweeted the supercut saying, "damn.. imagine being this guys brother" (shown below, right). The tweet accumulated over 10,700 likes that day.

Search Interest

External References