Studio Sues Logan Paul Over Controversial 'Suicide Forest' Video, Alleges YouTuber Torpedoed Movie Deal

Logan Paul has been slapped with a lawsuit by a studio claiming that the YouTuber-turned-boxer’s controversial “suicide forest” video in 2018 cost the company millions, a report says.

Planeless Pictures is suing Paul, who was allegedly supposed to star in one of its films after signing a deal with the production company in 2016, according to documents obtained by TMZ.

The YouTuber was all set to play a fictionalized version of himself in a movie titled “Airplane Mode,” the studio said. The movie was described by the outlet as “a spoof on modern-day trend-setters, like the Paul brothers and other social media folks.”

Planeless Pictures claimed that the 25-year-old also signed on to write and produce the feature and that he would get other YouTubers with a massive following, such as his brother Jake Paul, Nick Bateman, Juanpa Zureta and Amanda Cerny, on the project.

The flick was allegedly meant to be released on YouTube and the influencers’ social media accounts as a new way to monetize it. Planeless Pictures also said it had a licensing deal worth $3 million with Google for the movie, but Paul’s suicide forest video torpedoed all their plans.

The studio claimed in its suit that his reckless actions had destroyed the deal and accused Paul of deliberately sharing the video despite knowing that it would affect the movie project. Google also killed the deal, and Planeless claimed that the YouTuber now owes it $3 million.

The video in question, taken in Aokigahara, Japan, or the so-called “suicide forest,” angered fans and mental health advocates when it was released two years ago. In the video, Paul and his team stumbled upon the body of a dead man and made jokes while they were at the spot.

In 24 hours, it garnered millions of views but was later taken down because of the intense backlash. Paul apologized for the video in a tweet and said he was “misguided by shock and awe.”

“I should have never posted the video. I should have put the cameras down and stopped recording what we were going through,” he said in another apology video.

“I'm ashamed of myself. I'm disappointed in myself,” Paul added.