Logan Paul says suicide video ‘happened for reason’ on ‘Good Morning America’

The social media star and actor was born Apr. 1, 1995 in Ohio. He gained notoriety on Vine before rising to fame on other platforms. He has 15 million subscribers and 2 billion views on YouTube. His content includes daily vlogs, challenges and short films. He's collaborated with companies, including Hanes, HBO and PespsiCo,

Logan Paul went on "Good Morning America" Thursday to issue another apology for sharing a video that included footage of what appeared to be a dead body.

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The 22-year-old, who has 16 million YouTube subscribers, was heavily scrutinized at the beginning of the year when he made a post titled “We found a dead body in the Japanese Suicide Forest.” It followed him and his friends as they visited sites in the Asian country, including Aokigahara or the Sea of Trees, which is known as one of the world’s most popular suicide sites.

After it hit the web, he received a ton of backlash; removed the upload the next day, after it had been viewed 6 million times; and issued an apology.

During his chat with Michael Strahan Thursday, Paul opened up about the controversy surrounding the infamous clip, saying he believes it “happened for a reason.”

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"I think that reason is so I could take this experience, learn from it, spread the message the right way about suicide prevention and suicide prevention awareness," he said.

Amid the criticism, YouTube dropped several of his projects and removed him from the Google Preferred ad program.

“I understand they needed to take a stance,” he said. “While I don’t necessarily maybe agree with it, I do respect it.”

Paul resurfaced online for the first time after the incident last week for a vlog about suicide prevention in hopes of making “a difference in the world.” In the seven-minute post, he spoke to suicide prevention experts, offering tips and steps to help people “further understand the complexity surrounding suicide.”

"It's time to learn from the past as I get better and grow as a human being,” he said. “I'm here to have a hard conversation so that those who are suffering have easier ones.”

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