Controversial YouTuber Logan Paul has ended his month-long YouTube hiatus.

Paul returned to his channel last night with a new vlog that begins with a sketch depicting him in exile.

After a dash of self-depreciation punctuated with the typical ego (“what other YouTuber you know can take a three week break and still gain a million subscribers?” he at one point protests angrily to a god-like overseer), the video is very much a return to normal.

Still trending

It has already attracted 5.8m views in its first 14 hours and is currently trending at #2 on Google’s service. A tweet teasing the video shortly before its release has been viewed over 4m times and has almost 70k likes.

The video acknowledges YouTube’s decision to drop Paul from its preferred partners program, a move that he claims has “cut his assets in half”. He goes on to say that he therefore “needs” his viewers to buy all his merchandise, which is then shown off, while acknowledging his mansion pictured in the background.

He also touches upon his new work with suicide prevention organisations, and personally signs a change.org petition calling for the removal of his channel from YouTube.

He makes repeated pledges to learn from his mistakes, admitting in no uncertain terms that he “f***ed up”, is an “idiot” and “an asshole, for sure”. There is also an apology for the people of Japan following the controversy that greeted his antics over there.

This whole saga, of course, follows Paul’s now infamous video where he visited Japan’s Aokigahara ‘suicide’ forest and filmed a dead body. The outcry has seen Paul’s detractors swell, but ultimately the exposure has also lead to an increase in followers for him.

That he went on to post both an apology and what was a genuinely thoughtful suicide awareness video is hopefully the first step on the road of redemption for him – although how much his brand has truly been tarnished is up for debate.