Youtuber and former Disney star Jake Paul was accused of taking part in looting a mall in Arizona. The said incident was captured on video while protesters were gathered for the Black Lives Matter movement.
Vlog opportunity?
Jake Paul posted snippets of the riot and looting on his Instagram story. The videos quickly went viral after the public accused him of using the protest as an opportunity to create a vlog content and that he has no right to loot since he is worth $19 million.
In the viral video, Paul and his friends were seen outside and inside a mall while looting and vandalism were happening. Although the video was not clear and there were cuts on what happened, people on social media blasted him and his friends for their appearance at the scene.
Paul later released a statement to address the issue that neither he nor his friends engaged in looting or vandalism in the area. He clarified that they filmed everything that they saw so that they can share their experience with the public and help bring more attention to the matter.
Paul also stated that they were strictly documenting and not engaging in the looting. He also posted to Twitter that he does not condone violence, looting, or breaking the law but he understands the anger and the frustration that has led to the destruction that they've witnessed. He figured it was important that people see what that is going on in order to move forward.
However, minutes after Paul released his statement, it was already met with pushback. People questioned his actions and asked why he decided to focus the filming on looting that was happening at the mall instead of showing the protests that were being held in the city.
Paul later added that they are doing all that they can to help and to raise awareness but choosing to focus on the action that is condemned around the country is what did not sit right with the public.
David Lee Crow, known as Ghastly, tweeted that Jake Paul came to his state to not joint the Black Lives Matter protest but to loot in Scottsdale. He also bragged about the activity in his social media accounts.
Even though Paul was not actively looting, the fact that he used the footage that he captured for his gain, uploaded it to his channel, and added paid promotion is offensive to the people who are protesting in the country.
Who is Jake Paul?
This is not the first time that Jake Paul was in hot waters as he has used news stories that centered on social issues before as content for his channel, according to reporter Abby Ohiheiser.
Zach Sang tweeted that Jake Paul looting and using the death of black men by police as a vlog content is disgusting but it showed how he really is. Paul did not march in solidarity with anyone and he only showed up to loot at a mall for views.
Jake Paul is a YouTube influencer and creator with 20 million subscribers. He has 13 million followers on Instagram and 3.7 million followers on Twitter. Because of the incident, many people are now asking YouTube to take action against him.
