It hasn’t even been a week, since Logan Paul’s career-crushing video that caused one of the largest Internet uproars since James Charles' Ebola joke on Twitter. And we, as YouTube viewers and fans must ask ourselves, what is the limit? When does a YouTuber or a vlogger just go too far for apologies?
As Twitter can tell you, there have been instances before of complete eff-ups by celebrities, You-Tubers, vloggers, and idols. Some of them tend to be innocent and accidental mistakes, such as when Anastasia Beverly Hills released their lip swatches and ended up inciting social media backlash when it appeared that the black model's lip shades looked like they'd been swapped out based on the model's skin color.
Luckily, ABH quickly issued a statement of apology and revealed that the wrong photos had been posted online. In this scenario, the problem was addressed and was easily fixed before the company had to do some serious damage control.
Unfortunately, not every mistake like this one can be solved with a quick Twitter statement. So, what is it that determines whether a heartfelt apology is enough?
When a beauty brand messes up an order, an exchange of public apologies and a refund is often enough to dismiss harsh rumors and brand-ruining Twitter backlash. But in some cases, beauty gurus overstep the apology line, and it often makes fans question their loyalty. Take Jeffree Star, for example, a transgender beauty queen on YouTube who has been known for his spiteful and racist comments towards any criticism of his brand.
Jeffree Star has issued multiple apologies including a YouTube video that can be viewed here.
Another notorious beauty queen is Lime Crime’s founder, Doe Deere, who is also known to have made inappropriate statements online, including dressings as Hitler for Halloween.
I love these brands, as do many in the beauty community, but I find it hard to forgive such hurtful commentary with a simple behind the computer screen apology, when I can’t even see the sincerity of my beloved idols. Moreover, I do not get to decide whether these beauty gurus are forgiven or not, since their comments aren't aimed towards me. It is the individuals in the Black Lives Matter community, the Black Twitter community, the minority community, who gets to decide whether this was simply a forgivable mistake or an unforgiving hate comment, not me, not any other Caucasian individual nor the Kardashians.
That aside, I do belong to the mental health community. I have a very close and personal experience with suicide. I have friends who have made unsuccessful and successful attempts. I have been there at 5:00 a.m., clutching my phone and waiting for a friend's Facebook wall to be covered in "RIP" and "he's in a better place now" messages. Take it from someone who will never be able to watch "13 Reasons Why", because reliving that same, bitter and broken experience is too much for me to handle; I believe I have a very good leg to stand on when I say Logan Paul shouldn't be forgiven.
This is a 22-year-old adult, who purposely visited a very delicate and sensitive place for a country while intentionally going there to mock the idea of a 'suicide forest'. Whether the body was involved or not, Logan Paul went to this place with the goal to laugh and mess around. Once a hanging body became involved in the video, Logan Paul did not stop.
He decided to be ignorant, he had a thousand options: switch off the camera, call the police, issue an apology statement, never post the video, etc. Instead, Logan Paul took a video, exploited the suicide, edited, and published a video that (thankfully) received disgusted backlash and a wake-up call for the whole internet.
Personally, I’ve never loved Logan Paul but I’ve never hated him either. Now the whole world can see this immature YouTuber for what he truly is; an insensitive brat, who’s only sorry because he got caught.
