YouTube has officially dropped Logan Paul as a preferred ad partner and begun removing him from projects in the wake of the controversy surrounding his “Suicide Forest” video. The 22-year-old vlogger came under fire in early January for posting a YouTube video of himself allegedly discovering a dead body in Japan’s Aokigahara forest, which is known as a common suicide site.
After tweeting a statement denouncing Paul’s actions on Tuesday, YouTube said on Wednesday that it has decided to remove Paul’s channels from Google Preferred — a service that gives content creators access to top-tier advertising revenue — as well as suspend production on a YouTube original movie he was slated to appear in and pull him from season 4 of the YouTube Red series “Foursome.”
“Suicide is not a joke, nor should it ever be a driving force for views. As Anna Akana put it perfectly: ‘That body was a person someone loved. You do not walk into a suicide forest with a camera and claim mental health awareness,'” YouTube wrote on Twitter. “We expect more of the creators who build their community on @YouTube, as we’re sure you do too. The channel violated our community guidelines, we acted accordingly, and we are looking at further consequences.”
More Must-Reads from TIME
- How Donald Trump Won
- The Best Inventions of 2024
- Why Sleep Is the Key to Living Longer
- How to Break 8 Toxic Communication Habits
- Nicola Coughlan Bet on Herself—And Won
- What It’s Like to Have Long COVID As a Kid
- 22 Essential Works of Indigenous Cinema
- Meet TIME's Newest Class of Next Generation Leaders
Write to Megan McCluskey at megan.mccluskey@time.com