Disgraced YouTuber Logan Paul sat down for his first TV interview since the fallout from a video he posted last month that showed a suicide victim in Japan. He told Good Morning America’s Michael Strahan on Thursday that he entered Japan’s notorious “suicide forest†hoping to create entertaining content for his channel, when he and his team discovered the body of a man who had hung himself. Paul said he contemplated not including that footage in the video, but then intended to “shock†and “show the harsh realities of suicide†by keeping it in. He tells Strahan that suicide prevention and education is still the goal, but “the right way.†(He has since donated $1 million to prevention organizations and returned to YouTube with a PSA video.)
“I am a good guy who made a bad decision,†he said. “One of the things I’m learning is that crisis passes. This has been the hardest time of my life. I’ve never been hated by the whole world and it’s been something to definitely overcome. I will think twice in the future about what I post, probably three times.†An irony of the backlash, he said, was being told that he should commit suicide, though he feels some criticism has been fair. Responding to YouTube’s decision to yank him from their Google preferred-advertising program, he said he “doesn’t agree with it, but respects it.†He added, “It hurts, but it’s not like I’m drowning. I try not to live my life thinking about money.â€