Chloe Bennet Tried to Warn Logan Paul About His Behavior Before the Aokigahara Forest Incident

In December 2017, YouTuber Logan Paul uploaded the now-infamous video he filmed in Japan's sacred Aokigahara Forest. The video would ultimately spark backlash from viewers accusing Logan of making light of suicide and mental health. Per a new interview with Logan, his ex-girlfriend, the actor Chloe Bennet, actually warned him prior to the incident about the path his "behavior" was taking him down.

In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Logan said that he and Chloe fought the week before they were supposed to go to Tokyo. The couple and friends were planning to head to Japan to spend New Year’s Eve together. According to Logan, the trip was Chloe’s idea, but they argued prior to departure because he wanted to stay in different hotels. Logan then recalled Chloe telling him, “Yo, this behavior is going to bite you in the *ss. I don't know how, I don't know when, but you're going to crash and burn.”

While Chloe likely had no idea what was to come from Logan's trip to Japan, the warning proved prescient. On December 31, Logan uploaded a video in which he showed the body of a man who had seemingly died by suicide in the forest. While the video blurred out the man's face, the body was on full display. Teen Vogue editor Sandra Song also pointed out that the video was indicative of the West's larger tendency toward "exploitative exotification" of the forest: "[The content creators's] end goal is obvious despite any 'trigger warnings,' blurring of bodies, or disclaimers: They seem to be there to capitalize on Aokigahara's well-known morbidity to gather views."

Now, more than 10 months later, Logan admits he "should have felt empathy. I should have been like, 'Hey, this is wrong. Let's not do what we're doing.'"

In addition to the Aokigahara Forest incident, Logan’s videos during his stay in Japan were called out for being racist and disrespectful, something he admitted to in the THR interview. "I was disrespectful everywhere — U.S., Italy, France. The old Logan was plain old insensitive," he said.

Logan has attempted to apologize for the video in the past, with mixed results. In the direct aftermath, he claimed the video was intended to "raise awareness for suicide and suicide prevention," which both fans and fellow YouTubers called out as disingenuous. Creator Anna Akana tweeted at him about her own experience with suicide, writing, "That body was a person someone loved. You do not walk into a suicide forest with a camera and claim mental health awareness."

In response to the THR interview and his most recent apology, people on Twitter are again questioning the sincerity of his words — and how they measure up to his actions since the video. On Twitter, BuzzFeed News's deputy director David Mack called the THR interview, "This is the whitest mannest thing i have ever read." Another person tweeted, that Logan is "doing THE ABSOLUTE MOST trying to get everyone to feel sorry for him."

Further, another Logan quote from the THR interview seems to imply Logan is getting into podcasting, and that he's challenging the criticism. "Good luck trying to cancel me,” he told THR. “It’s so easy for anyone to be like, ‘Logan Paul just ended his career, he’s done.’ But the only person who will ever decide whether that’s true is me."

If you or someone you know may be at risk for suicide, you can call the Trevor Project's 24/7 Trevor Lifeline at 866-488-7386 or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.

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