YouTube Cuts Business Ties With Logan Paul, Puts 'The Thinning' Sequel On Hold
YouTube has put its original projects with Logan Paul on hold following
widespread criticism over a video he posted Dec. 31 that featured images of a
suicide victim.
The Google-owned streamer announced the action 11 days after the video was
first published. (Paul removed it from his channel a day after he posted it
after he faced a backlash over his treatment of mental health issues.)
This means that the fate of The Thinning: New World Order is in
question. The film, a sequel to Paul's popular YouTube Red sci-fi thriller
The Thinning, was announced in late November and was expected to drop
on Red, YouTube's ad-free subscription streaming service, later this year.
Paul will also not appear in the upcoming fourth season of Red comedy
Foursome, in which he starred as the older brother of Jenn McAllister's
Andie. Season three premiered on Nov. 1.
Further, YouTube has decided to remove Paul from its Google Preferred
program, which gives brands the ability to sell ads on the top 5 percent of
creators on the platform.
"In light of recent events, we have decided to remove Logan Paul’s channels
from Google Preferred," reads the full statement from a YouTube spokeswoman.
"Additionally, we will not feature Logan in season 4 of ‘Foursome’ and his new
Originals are on hold."
Paul's video, filmed in Japan's Aokigahara Forest, showed the body of a man
who had committed suicide, though the face was blurred. A number of well-known
people, including Aaron Paul (no relation to Logan Paul) spoke out on Twitter
against the video.
Paul deleted the video and issued two apologies before announcing plans to
suspend his vlog temporarily so he could "take time to reflect."
At the time, YouTube released a statement indicating that Paul's video had
violated its policies. "Our hearts go out to the family of the person featured
in the video," the company said. "YouTube prohibits violent or gory content
posted in a shocking, sensational or disrespectful manner. If a video is
graphic, it ca only remain on the site when supported by appropriate educational
or documentary information and in some cases it will be age-gated. We partner
with safety groups such as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline to provide
educational resources that are incorporated in our YouTube Safety Center."
YouTube also gave Paul's channel, which has 15 million subscribers, received
a strike. Three strikes, received when violating a YouTube policy, within a
three-month period will cause YouTube to terminate an account.
But some of the YouTube community felt that YouTube hadn't done enough. The
service released a new statement on Jan. 9 noting, "Many of you have been
frustrated with our lack of communication recently. You're right to be. You
deserve to know what's going on."
The statement continued, "Like many others, we were upset by the video that
was shared last week. Suicide is not a joke, not should it ever be a driving
force for views."
The company then indicated that it would look at "further consequences" and
would share more soon about "steps we're taking to ensure a video like this is
never circulated again."
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
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