Logan Paul Says He ‘Lost Everything’ After Suicide Forest Controversy

Logan Paul is reopening one of the darkest chapters of his career—and this time, the focus is entirely on what happened after it blew up.

During an April 9, 2026 appearance on What’s Your Story? with Stephanie McMahon, Paul was asked about the fallout from his Aokigahara forest controversy, and he didn’t try to downplay it. Instead, he laid out just how hard the consequences hit.

“What happened after? There was a righteous fallout, and God was just—and I basically lost everything that I spent the last 11 years building. I deserved it.”

The incident, which took place in late 2017 at Aokigahara Forest in Japan, triggered global backlash after Paul uploaded a video showing a suicide victim. Paul admitted that while some people still debate whether the backlash went too far, he doesn’t see it that way.

“I think people see two sides of this. There are people who are like, ‘Yeah, that’s f****** up—I can’t believe you did that.’ There are others who think people overreacted. I’m actually in the former. I think it was a mistake—it didn’t need to happen.”

From there, Paul explained that the fallout became a turning point, pushing him into deep self-reflection about how he got to that moment in the first place. He said being honest with those answers changed the direction of his life and career.

“That said, I’m grateful that I took that opportunity to backtrack, really look myself in the mirror, and ask myself how and why that happened. How did I get here? Where did I possibly go wrong in my life that I thought that was a good idea? Asking myself those questions and allowing myself to be honest with the answers led me down a separate path that has led me to something I can say I’m really proud of, and I’m really happy with.”

Paul also made it clear that he never expected forgiveness to come easy—and that earning even a second chance required real change. He described the aftermath as something that continues to follow him, but also something that shaped him under constant public scrutiny.

“It’s because I was willing to really become a better person—or at least do my best to be a better person. I understood that forgiveness was not a given, but I did ask to earn just the chance to be forgiven—just open your mind, let me try to show the world the best version of myself. It’s both a blessing and a curse. You sleep in the bed that you make. The blessing is that I am being critiqued and judged, rightfully, by millions of people—and with that, I was able to mold my betterment in a really fitting way.”

Paul ended by acknowledging that the incident will always be part of how people see him—and he accepts that reality: “And it’s all out there—there are no skeletons in the closet. Judge me at my worst, and that’s fair—that’s the bed that I made.”

Years later, Paul isn’t trying to run from the fallout—he’s owning it, tying his current success directly to the backlash that nearly wiped everything out, and making it clear that the consequences still shape how he moves today.

Do you think Logan Paul has done enough to move past this controversy, or should it continue to define his legacy? Let us know your thoughts and drop your feedback below.

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