Youtuber Logan Paul opened 2018 with some serious backlash over a highly insensitive video posted over the New Year weekend.

In this video, Paul is seen taking a bunch of friends to Aokigahara, a forest in Japan, which has been nicknamed the “Suicide Forest” due to its the high number of suicides.

What started out as a fun video blog for Paul and his entourage, ended up taking a grave turn when they encountered the body of a man who had hung himself.

However, Paul kept filming even as the gruesome image appeared. He showed the reactions of himself and his friends, made a joke and laughed about the scenario and even heartlessly displayed the body of the man, only blurring out his face.  

Shortly after this video was posted, fans and haters alike were absolutely outraged and accused Paul of exploiting the man’s death for views and entertainment. Eventually, the video was taken down and only clips of it are still available through other Youtubers’ reaction videos.

Since receiving such negativity from the Youtube community, Paul has apologized both over twitter and in a separate Youtube video.

“I’m often reminded of how big a reach I truly have and with great power comes great responsibility,” Paul said in a twitter statement. “For the first time in my life, I’m regretful to say I handled that power incorrectly. It won’t happen again.”    

Recently, Paul released another statement saying he will temporarily step away from YouTube to reflect on his actions. He did not indicate the length of his respite. Fans can only hope that he will use his influence more wisely in the future, as children account for most of his audience.