Logan Paul's apology tour took its most apologetic turn yet Thursday, tailored blazer and self-pity included. For his first sit-down televised chat since angering damn near everyone with his video showing a dead man in Japan's "Suicide Forest", the once-prolific YouTube personality spoke with Good Morning America's Michael Strahan about the backlash and what he claims to have learned from it all.
"It's been tough because, ironically, I'm being told to commit suicide myself," Paul said. "Millions of people, literally, telling me they hate me, to go die in a fire. It's, like, the most horrible, horrific things." Asked if he thought the criticism was "fair," Paul said he did.
As for why, exactly, the video ever existed in the first place, Paul said the initial plan was to just do "another fun vlog" until things changed "pretty drastically and quickly."
If you predicted this interview would contain at least one utterance of "it happened for a reason," you're absolutely right. "I believe it happened for a reason," Paul said. "I believe that reason is so I could take this experience, learn from it, spread the message the right away about suicide prevention, and suicide prevention awareness." When pressed by Strahan about feeling any hesitance on releasing the video during the editing process, Paul explained why he went through with releasing it anyway.
"The idea was to shock and show the harsh realities of suicide and get people talking about something that I don't think people are talking about much, and still that's the goal today," he said.
Ultimately, Paul considers himself a "good guy who made a bad decision" and vowed to think at least twice about what he posts in the future. "Probably three times," he told Strahan.
