As his brother basks in the glory of his victory over a 58-year-old Mike Tyson, Logan Paul is making some headlines of his own.
On Wednesday, the BBC released its documentary Logan Paul: Bad Influence?, which investigates the social media star-turned-WWE performer’s involvement in an alleged cryptocurrency scam. But while the content of the project is noteworthy in and of itself, it’s Paul’s participation in it — or lack thereof — that’s received the bulk of the attention thus far.
As detailed in a story written by the documentary’s producer/director, Jamie Tahsin, the Westlake, Ohio, native had initially declined to be interviewed for the project. But after months of refusing to talk to the documentarian, Paul suddenly invited the crew to interview him at his boxing gym in Puerto Rico.
“At the gym, we noticed a strange atmosphere – with a suspicious number of his own cameras pointed at us,” Tahsin wrote. “Paul’s assistant insisted our cameras should be recording from the moment the star entered the room, because of his strict schedule and timekeeping.”
The interview then took an even more shocking twist as the subject arrived to answer questions from BBC reporter Matt Shea. That’s because it wasn’t actually Paul, but rather a lookalike impersonating the 29-year-old.
“Is Logan coming?” Shea asks the impersonator in a clip.
“I’m right here, bud,” the lookalike replied.
“These are very serious questions,” Shea said. “There are people who really want to know the answers to these questions.”
“I’m a serious person,” the impersonator insisted.
Shea proceeded to end the faux interview, stating, “let’s just get out of here, I’m not doing this.” From there, a crowd of people could be heard chanting, accusing the BBC of hiring pedophiles in an apparent reference to the Jimmy Savile and Huw Edwards scandals.
“We had flown all that way just to be trolled,” Tahsin wrote.
Despite his efforts to actively evade questioning, the project ultimately moved forward. You can read about the allegations that have been made against Paul — which he denies — here.
[BBC]
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.