Charismatic YouTube star and internet personality Logan Paul has built a lucrative career out of his natural ability to make others laugh. The YouTube vlogger is a man of many skills, some even more curious than others, like his ability to speak several foreign languages.
Logan Paul speaks four different languages. In addition to speaking English, his native tongue, the YouTube sensation also knows French, Afrikaans, and basic Portuguese.
With 22.1 million subscribers on his YouTube channel and an astonishing 5.5 billion views to boot, Paul is clearly a man who has worked hard to win the adoration of his fanbase. Yet, Paul’s career has not always been smooth-sailing and he has come under fire for several controversies in the past.
Logan Paul: The Vine Star
Paul’s road to worldwide fame and notoriety began when he was just a young man.
In fact, he was only ten-years-old when he started posting videos on an App called Zoosh.
But, Paul’s true rise to prominence would coincide with the increasing popularity of Vine, a widely-used video-sharing app. In high school, Paul began playing around with content creation and started making comical videos that often included pranks or stunts.
By the time Paul was studying industrial engineering at Ohio University, he already had a burgeoning fanbase on Vine, and when the app shut down in 2017, he had amassed almost 10 million followers.
Paul dropped out of university to move to Los Angeles and pursue a career in entertainment
Following the decline of Vine, Paul was able to maintain his fanbase, shifting his followers to his YouTube channel and various other social media platforms. It was also at this point that Paul started to capitalize on influencer culture, making serious money from advertising revenue and sponsored posts.
From that point on, the writing was on the wall. Logan Paul had emerged.
Logan Paul: YouTube Fame and Controversy
On his YouTube channel, Paul got into the habit of vlogging on a daily basis, building his fanbase even more over the years. In late 2016, Paul posted his 100th vlog.
One of the internet personality’s most iconic moments came when he collaborated with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson on a video. In the one-minute clip, Paul pretends to try and hurt The Rock, but fails miserably.
However, in early 2018, during Paul’s trip to Japan, he landed himself in hot water after uploading a vlog in which the YouTube star appeared to film the body of an individual who is reported to have committed suicide in the country’s Aokigahara forest.
In light of his actions, Paul’s channels were taken off YouTube’s Google Preferred scheme, which is where companies sell ads on the site’s top 5% of channels.
In response to the criticism he received regarding the post, Paul said: “I should have never posted the video. I should have put the cameras down and stopped recording what we were going through.” He added: “I’m ashamed of myself”.
The video was a lesson in the ethics of vlogger culture, and Paul’s popularity took a hit after vast numbers of fans decided to stop following the controversy stricken star. While Paul’s fanbase wasn’t too drastically reduced, he did lose around 6,000 subscribers in one day.
Ahead of a boxing match with fellow YouTuber, KSI, Paul stated that what happened in Japan was his “biggest fight”.
He went on to say: “Just like everyone in life, people make mistakes, mine happened to be in public and in front of the whole world. Being able to take that and get up and keep on fighting and being able to redeem yourself and make a come back even though 99% of the world doesn’t believe in you I think is gonna say a lot and make a lot of people believe in themselves when they’re down.”
Logan Paul: The Thespian
Away from his digital business empire, Paul has also made various forays into acting.
Back in 2015, Paul featured in an episode of ‘Law and Order: Special Victims Unit’, and a few years later starred alongside Peyton List in the science fiction film, ‘The Thinning’.
In 2019, Paul took to showbiz again to star in ‘Airplane Mode’, a film he wrote with his brother and fellow YouTube star, Jake Paul. In the movie, Paul plays himself and is forced to beat his fear of flying in order to land a plane and save a host of other influencers.
Delayed by the controversy surrounding Paul’s Japan trip, the film was released several years late and did not receive favorable reviews from critics. One review said: “Unfortunately, Logan Paul is not among those who demonstrate comic timing or acting ability”.
What Next For Logan Paul
Like other ever-present social media personalities, it often feels like Logan Paul has dominated headlines for at least a decade more than he actually has. But, regardless of past controversies, Paul is still young and no doubt has more of a creative output to offer the world.
So, watch this space. Just don’t bother watching Airplane Mode…