YouTube suspends ads on Logan Paul's channel, cites recent behavior
"Paul tasered a rat in his most recent video," a spokeswoman told ABC News.
— -- YouTube has "temporarily suspended ads" on Logan Paul's channels following what it called a "recent pattern of behavior" that runs contrary to the video platform's revenue guidelines, a YouTube spokeswoman told ABC News on Friday.
The move comes a little over a month after Paul faced massive online backlash for a video he posted and then took down that appeared to show a lifeless, hanging body in Japan's so-called suicide forest.
But it is videos that Paul posted in the past week that are the immediate impetus for YouTube's action.
"We believe he has exhibited a pattern of behavior in his videos that makes his channel not only unsuitable for advertisers but also potentially damaging to the broader creator community," a YouTube spokeswoman told ABC News.
The spokeswoman cited examples of Paul using a stun gun on a rat in one video and urging his followers to engage in a recent online craze of eating Tide laundry pods.
"Paul tasered a rat in his most recent video and deliberately tried to monetize the video that clearly violated our advertiser-friendly guidelines," the spokeswoman said. "He encouraged his followers to do the Tide Pod challenge."
ABC News has asked Paul for comment but has not immediately heard back.
After the uproar at the start of the year over Paul's Dec. 31 video showing an apparently lifeless, hanging body, he took a leave of absence from social media and YouTube removed him from Google Preferred, a premier ad service that offers brand advertisers access to top channel producers.
Paul made numerous apologies and said he was "taking time to reflect."
He returned to YouTube on Jan. 24 with a video that focused on suicide prevention, including an interview he conducted with a man who had attempted to take his own life.
Paul also spoke out on "Good Morning America" earlier this month, saying "I think I'm going to earn a second chance. I don't think everyone should get a second chance. Some people do horrible things ... This was a horrible lapse of judgment. And I can, will and am going to learn from it and be a better person."
YouTube in its statement today says the company isn't "telling you what to create," but that if videos do not comply with its guidelines, a content producer like Paul should "opt out of monetization for any videos that are not advertiser friendly while you remain in the YouTube Partner Program. Keep in mind that if you monetize content that violates our guidelines, you may lose access to monetization features."
The company also said Paul will not be featured on season 4 of the original YouTube series, "Foursome" and that "his new Originals are on hold."