YouTube pares back Logan Paul partnership after suicide video post

LOS ANGELES - YouTube said Wednesday it is removing popular American vlogger Logan Paul from its Google Preferred platform and putting future projects with him on hold, after Paul posted a video on the platform of a suicide victim in Japan.

"In light of recent events, we have decided to remove Logan Paul's channels from Google Preferred. Additionally, we will not feature Logan in season 4 of 'Foursome' and his new Originals are on hold," Alphabet Inc's YouTube, said in a statement.

Google Preferred features YouTube's most popular content in packages for sale to advertisers. Paul, 22, is one of YouTube's top content creators, regularly drawing millions of views from his mainly youth-orientated audience.

Paul also had projects in the works with YouTube's premium subscription service, YouTube Red, and appeared on the platform's web series "Foursome." Representatives for Paul did not immediately return requests from Reuters for comment.

Paul apologised in a YouTube video titled "So Sorry" last week for posting the video that showed him and his friends laughing about the body they filmed hanging on a tree in Japan's "suicide forest."

Paul said he had made a "huge mistake" and was ashamed of himself, and he deleted the video after it caused a social media backlash.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwZT7T-TXT0[/embed]

YouTube in an open letter on Tuesday said it was "upset by the video that was shared last week," saying that "suicide is not a joke, nor should it ever be a driving force for views."

The company said Paul's video violated its guidelines and it was "looking at further consequences." Paul has not posted any videos in the past week, saying he was "taking time to reflect."

[embed]https://twitter.com/YouTube/status/950847377816113153[/embed]

Paul's channel, Logan Paul Vlogs, which has more than 15 million subscribers, is still active on YouTube and advertisers can still choose to advertise on his videos, or they can opt out.