Logan Paul Spent 3 Weeks Talking to Suicide Prevention Advocates. Here's What He Says He's Learned

Editor’s note: If you experience suicidal thoughts or have lost someone to suicide, the following post could be potentially triggering. You can contact the Crisis Text Line by texting “START” to 741741.

On Wednesday, YouTuber Logan Paul released a video for the first time since publicly apologizing for a now-deleted video showing the body of someone who died by suicide in the Aokigahara forest in Japan.

YouTube received criticism for not responding fast enough to the original video, which Paul took down. Eleven days after the video was first posted, YouTube removed Paul’s channels from Google Preferred and took him off a Youtube original series.

Paul’s latest video, called “Suicide: Be Here Tomorrow,” is about suicide prevention. In it, Paul talks to Kevin Hines, a suicide attempt survivor, Bob Forrest, a musician who founded a recovery center for people struggling with addiction and John Draper, the director of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

“He is one of the many people I’ve been grateful to meet over the past three weeks as I aim to further understand the complexities surrounding suicide,” Paul says after Hines tells his story. “And I know I’ve made mistakes. I know I’ve let people down. But what happens when you’re given an opportunity to help make a difference in the world?”

In the video, Paul also offers five steps anyone can take to help prevent suicide and pledged to donate one million dollars to various suicide prevention organizations. $250,000 has already gone to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

The video also includes suicide prevention resources, like the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline — resources which weren’t included in his original video where he found the man who died by suicide.

The response to this video has varied. Some posted on Twitter they were proud of Paul for posting this new video, praising him for using his platform to spread suicide awareness.

Logan Paul using his platform for genuine good. Yeah it was always going to be the only intelligent way to return but he’s actually genuinely added a lot of good to the world. Whether you like him or not, that video will save lives.

— Reev (@TheReevHD) January 24, 2018

.@LoganPaul has a long way to go and people are right to continue to question his motives but today’s video was a thoughtful first step. hopefully this is part of a true effort to move on from sensationalist content – https://t.co/VqU5q97jKi

— Casey Neistat (@Casey) January 24, 2018

Others were more critical. “When I get alerted that you’ve posted a new video after taking a long break to ‘reflect,’ I’m hoping you address the fact that you, in your infinite privilege and power, have little understanding of the consequences of your actions, treat others like props, and need to change,” Jimmy Wong, an actor and filmmaker, tweeted, adding:

Instead, we get treated to a precisely formed and deliberately manipulative piece of content from your PR machine to show us you care. Hey Logan. You’re not solving a real issue when you address the one thing you just happened to get caught about. You’re just covering your ass.

Hey @LoganPaul, first off thank you for your video on suicide awareness. Trust, we are grateful you used your platform to teach your audience about an important issue, but let’s take a step back here, and look behind the PR team that made this. – https://t.co/LUu2prOuSV (thread)

— Jimmy Wong (@jfwong) January 24, 2018

What did you think of Paul’s latest video?

If you or someone you know needs help, visit our suicide prevention resources page.

If you need support right now, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386 or reach the Crisis Text Line by texting “START” to 741741.