Things Logan And Jake Paul Need To Apologize For
The rise of YouTube gave anyone a chance at stardom. With just a camera and an entertaining personality, you can rack up millions of views and become a household name. For some YouTube creators, the chase for millions of views set them on a destructive path of attention-seeking content. To keep their audiences entertained, they are constantly pushing the boundaries for the most shocking content to go viral with. There is no better example of this than Jake and Logan Paul. If you're unfamiliar with the brothers, here's a rundown.
You might remember Logan for his most notable moment, a shocking video from the "suicide forest" in Japan. Jake, on the other hand, has followed in his older brother's footsteps with his own YouTube channel filled with clickbait-style videos and a surprising boxing career. Despite their slightly different careers, the two have a lot in common, including a list of controversies to their names. Their rise on social media has been unprecedented, but it also has left a sour taste in many people's mouths. Here are just a few things the brothers have yet to apologize for.
Jake Paul's racist comments
In 2018, while older brother Logan was on a massive apology tour for posting a YouTube vlog featuring a deal body, Jake Paul was dealing with a mini-controversy of his own. A video of Jake rapping a freestyle over Rae Sremmurd's "Throw Some Mo'" was released by TMZ. It was reportedly from a Coachella party in 2015. In the video, Jake could be heard rapping along to the beat and dropping the N-word twice. Despite the damning evidence, the video flew under the radar, as the world was more concerned with Logan's controversy at the time. However, that isn't the only incident from Jake that people found racist.
In 2017, viewers were outraged by Jake's behavior during a YouTube vlog. In the video, he meets an excited fan who eagerly asks for a selfie. After noting his foreign accent, Jake asks him where he's from. The fan reveals he's originally from Kazakhstan, to which Jake replies, "It sounds like you're just going to blow someone up." The YouTuber then jokes, "You're like 'Send the nuke!"'
The xenophobic comment did not go over well. The hashtag #JakePaulIsOverParty began trending on Twitter, with users calling for his cancellation. "Of course he made a racist joke! Imagine what he says behind closed doors, when the camera is off #jakepaulisoverparty," one Twitter user wrote. Another user chimed in, tweeting, "#jakepaulisoverparty Sorry Jake but making racist jokes isn't 'being savage; it's just being a jerk."
Jake Paul partied hard during the pandemic
In March 2020, the entire globe came to a halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Around the world, many leaders were urging people to practice social distancing. While some obeyed the orders, others bent the rules by throwing house parties. Jake Paul's party in July 2020 caught the attention of everyone, including the Mayor of Calabasas. According to FOX 11, the massive house party lasted all day and resulted in neighbors calling police. Videos of the party later surfaced on Twitter showing a massive crowd of people scattered around Paul's mansion.
Mayor Alicia Weintraub told the outlet she was outraged by Paul throwing the party and warned of future consequences. "They're having this large party, no social distancing, no masks, it's just a big huge disregard for everything that everybody is trying to do to get things back to functioning," Weintraub said. "It's really just a party acting like COVID does not exist, it's acting that businesses aren't closed." Paul later explained to Insider that he refuses to stop living his life. He insisted the parties go on.
In a November 2020 interview with The Daily Beast, Paul defended his pandemic parties and claimed he didn't agree with the country being on lockdown. "This is the most detrimental thing to our society. COVID cases are at less than 1 percent, and I think the disease is a hoax," he said. When asked to elaborate on the claim, he chose not to.
Logan Paul's shocking videos with animals
Two months after posting a graphic video filmed in Japan's Aokigahara Forest, Logan Paul found himself in hot water again. According to Us Weekly, Paul filmed a vlog for his YouTube channel that showed two dead rats he found on his balcony. With his friends watching, he proceeded to taser the already dead rats in a game he called "Get These Rats." "No rat comes into my house without getting tased," he says while repeatedly tasering the dead animals. "OK, so the rats are definitely dead."
In the video, Paul also scoops out fish from his koi pond that look lifeless and jokingly asked if he should give them CPR. The video outraged viewers who felt like Paul hadn't changed his ways following his earlier scandal. Many pointed out that he went from mocking dead people to mocking dead animals. "Logan Paul really used the second chance people actually gave him after he filmed a dead body to then upload a video of him tasering dead rats and poking fish that were struggling to breathe," one Twitter user wrote.
With this video, YouTube was swift with handing out punishment for the controversial creator. The platform suspended ads on all of his videos due to behavior that they considered disturbing. Paul never apologized for his actions in the video, but we're sure the temporary lack of ad revenue made him briefly rethink his actions.
Jake Paul denied looting during the George Floyd protests
After footage of George Floyd's death in 2020 was shown around the world, global protests erupted. Many marched the streets and highways, and even shut down places like malls. During a protest at a mall in Arizona, Jake Paul was spotted with a camera taking pictures with fans and filming the protest. As police attempted to shut things down, people began looting.
Though Paul is not seen on any video stealing, he was pictured holding a bottle from a restaurant that was looted (via Vanity Fair). The YouTube star took to Twitter and denied partaking in the riot and looting. "To be absolutely clear, neither I nor anyone in our group was engaged in any looting or vandalism," he wrote. "For context, we spent the day doing our part to peaceful protest one of the most horrific injustices our country has ever seen, which led to us being tear-gassed for filming the events and brutality that were unfolding in Arizona."
Paul's presence at the protest soon went viral, and the police had some questions about his participation. Per People, cops later charged him with misdemeanor criminal trespass and unlawful assembly. They claimed Paul remained in the mall after police declared the protest an unlawful assembly and shut the down the mall. Despite the charges later being dropped, two months later his home was raided by the FBI in relation to this incident, per Los Angeles Times.
Jake Paul turned one neighborhood upside down
It's hard to love thy neighbor when the neighbor in question is a noisy YouTuber who loves to party. Jake Paul's neighbors had their quiet Beverly Grove neighborhood turned upside down in 2017. They complained endlessly about the constant parties, pranks, littering, and the swarm of fans flocking outside his home daily. They accused Paul of purposely leaking his address to bring fans to his house and cause a commotion.
As KTLA 5 reported, one prank included setting a mattress on fire in his backyard and allowing the flames to grow. When a local reporter asked Paul about the neighborhood's concerns, he shrugged it off. "It's terrible, it's a bad situation and I feel bad for them, but there's nothing we can do," Paul responded. "Jake Paulers are the strongest army out there."
Neighbors who wanted him gone soon got their wish, but Paul allegedly left the rented property in shambles. The landlord was furious the YouTuber used the home for dangerous pranks. Paul allegedly left burn marks in the pool — possibly from burning a mattress — and left the cabinets and garden damaged. The company that owned the property filed a $2.5 million lawsuit for damages. Paul's reps denied serious damage was done and argued the lease allowed him to use the home for personal use. Following this controversy, Disney Channel "mutually agreed" to part ways with Paul who starred in the series "Bizaardvark," per Deadline.
Logan Paul's past racist tweets resurfaced
The things Logan Paul has said in his videos and podcasts have gotten him into trouble over the years. In 2019, he was forced to apologize after joking he would "go gay for just one month." However, there are still offensive things he has never apologized for saying ... and tweeting. In 2018, one Twitter user wrote, "Hey world. If you didn't know, @LoganPaul has always been disrespectful and racist towards Asians. This is nothing new. Sadly." Attached to the tweet were screenshots of old tweets by Paul that perpetuated racist stereotypes about Black and Asian men, including remarks about genital size.
In another screenshot Logan holds up a young Asian child and wrote, "Found this little Asian boy in London. Named him Issac. Nice kid." Despite not apologizing for the past offensive tweets, in 2021 Paul spoke in depth about using his platform and white privilege to combat racism.
In an interview with Yahoo!, he described feeling responsible to speak up about racism in America. "I know when to speak up about something when I feel it — when I really feel it ... because the whole idea of racism makes no sense to me," Paul said. "It's incomprehensible. My brain cannot compute." During the George Floyd protests in 2020, Paul posted a video demanding people hold their friends and family accountable for their racist beliefs.
Logan Paul promoted the dangerous Tide Pod Challenge
After his controversial video from the Aokigahara forest in Japan, many believed that Logan Paul would keep a low profile. Yet, in 2018 the star continued to be reprimanded by YouTube for posting harmful content. According to The Sun, the creator took to his Twitter account to promote the dangerous Tide Pod Challenge that was going viral at the time. "Swallowing 1 Tide Pod per retweet," the tweet read to his millions of followers. Considering the challenge had dangerous health repercussions, many were outraged that he used his platform to promote it and joke about it.
Among those who weren't happy were executives at YouTube, who were already taking down content featuring the challenge in an effort to minimize harm. In response to his tweet and other behavior — such as tasering a dead rat in a video — YouTube announced they were suspending ads on his videos again. In a statement to The Verge, executives made note of the harmful content his channel was promoting. "This is not a decision we made lightly, however, we believe he has exhibited a pattern of behavior in his videos that makes his channel not only unsuitable for advertisers but also potentially damaging to the broader creator community," the statement read.
The outlet noted that prior to the ad suspension, Paul was making up to $1.2 million a month in ad revenue from his YouTube channels.
Logan Paul's lasso prank went too far
One of the most popular types of content on YouTube is public pranks. Audiences love seeing the raw reaction from regular people to the most absurd public pranks. Logan Paul is no stranger to pranking his friends and even started a prank war with his brother Jake. In an attempt to get a memorable reaction, sometimes the YouTube pranks cross the line. In 2021, an old prank from Paul in collaboration with YouTuber Sam Pepper resurfaced on Twitter. An account called @MeTube posted the since-deleted prank on their account, which is described as highlighting "Untold #MeToo stories of YouTube and social media."
The prank features both Paul and Pepper using a rope to lasso up random women on the street. After throwing a rope over a woman, Paul can be seen pulling her closer to him and telling her, "I'll let you go if you kiss me." Though some women in the video could be seen kissing him, some people were outraged. "Also classic example of how consent can be taken away at any time. These poor women didn't know they were being filmed and I'm sure felt extremely pressured in a public situation," one Twitter user wrote in response to the video.
His co-star in the video, Pepper, was also accused of rape by a woman in 2014, per Buzzfeed. He denied all accusations against him.
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
Jake Paul allegedly bullied members of the Team 10 house
For aspiring content creators, living in a mansion filled with other influencers for free might sound like a dream, especially if the man at the center of it all is the biggest name on YouTube. In 2016, Jake Paul founded Team 10 which aimed to replicate his own success for a group of up-and-coming influencers. "Our business model has always been helping young influencers reach their potential," Paul told Business Insider in 2020. While Team 10 did manage to create popular influencers alongside Paul, the business model of them living under the same roof caused controversy.
In 2021, former roommates spoke to The New York Times and accused the YouTube star of manipulating and exploiting them. "If you got tagged in one of Jake's YouTube videos, you could get 50,000 followers," AJ Mitchell explained. "Jake would use that to manipulate everyone. If anyone didn't do what Jake wanted, he'd tell everyone else in the house not to tag them. Jake had a monopoly, and he decided who got famous." Mitchell alleged he never received payment by Team 10 and was rarely given food. He often find his personal property damaged by Paul for prank videos.
Mitchell, who was 14 when he moved in, also claimed the weekly house parties had alcohol and weed around minors. Other former members of Team 10 had similar accusations. The Martinez Twins posted a video in 2017 about their experience, and accused Paul of bullying and racism.
A model in Logan Paul's music video felt degraded
Before launching his current career as a professional wrestler for WWE, Logan Paul tried his hand at music. In 2017, he released a track titled "No Handlebars," in which he raps and sings about stealing another man's girl. The song is considered a parody of ohe Flobots' track "Handlebars" from 2005.
In the music video, Paul is surrounded by models, and at one point, uses three of them to create a human bicycle as he sings, "I can ride your girl with no handlebars." Though some viewers might find humor in the absurdity of it all, one model featured in the video wasn't laughing. In an interview with Psychology Today, Eliza Johnson revealed she felt degraded after participating in the video shoot. Johnson claims she wasn't familiar with Paul's work and wasn't told about the human bicycle scene prior to filming. "Con artists do things like that. I reached my breaking point after the sixth take and my legs were giving out. I was so physically exhausted, I wasn't even able to process what was going on," she explained. As the only plus-size model at the shoot, Johnson believes she was purposely selected for the scene because of her size. She even noted she was paid less in comparison to the other models on set.
The track itself caused controversy as well. In 2019, Flobots sued Paul for copyright infringement. He later deleted the video from his official channel.