Kicking off 2018 with a remarkable bout of stupidity, YouTube star Logan Paul finds himself at the centre of controversy after finding and filming a dead body in one of his videos.

The 22 year-old visited the Aokigahara forest in Japan, also known as the 'suicide forest', for the obvious reason. Paul and his pals visited the forest, and documented the experience for his YouTube channel. 

In a wild turn of events, Logan did actually stumble across the lifeless body of a man in the notorious suicide hotspot, and proceeded to vlog his reaction to it. 

One of Paul's friends is heard off camera saying he "doesn't feel good", and Paul then responds with: "What, you never stand next to a dead guy?" whilst laughing. 

The video was live on YouTube for a day or so, before being taken down. We're unsure whether Logan himself has removed it, or the platform stepped in. Given that the Paul brothers are YouTube's golden boys currently, it wouldn't surprise us if they had no involvement whatsoever. 

Creators and fans alike criticised Paul's behaviour, calling it 'disrespectful' and 'disgusting'. 

Logan has issued an apology statement via Twitter, explaining that the aim of the video was to raise awareness for suicide, and reminded followers that 'it's easy to get caught up in the moment without fully weighing the possible ramifications'. 

Dear Internet, pic.twitter.com/42OCDBhiWg

— Logan Paul (@LoganPaul) January 2, 2018

While his apology comes across as self-vindicating, it's quite possible that his less than empathetic reaction could have been out of pure shock. 

However, it's these kinds of stunts that are perpetually putting YouTube and its creators in a bad spotlight; a problem that has led handfuls of advertisers away from the platform.

Should this trend continue, those that rely on YouTube's revenue could find themselves in some real trouble. 

Logan has released an apology video on his channel.