Logan Paul and KSI’s trash talk has gone too far

Logan Paul and KSI.
Logan
Paul/YouTube

• YouTuber Logan Paul shot back against his future boxing
  opponent, British vlogger KSI, in a video calling out his
  derogatory remarks about women.
• Paul took issue with KSI’s insults against his
  girlfriend, actress Chloe Bennett, and said his behaviour had
  been immature.
• The two are drumming up publicity ahead of a boxing
  match in Manchester Arena, which will be livestreamed for $8
  (£6).
• Some of the trash-talking has become ill-natured, and
  the BBC decided not to air a key interview with the two
  YouTubers in a sign that they may have gone too far.

The upcoming boxing match between British YouTuber KSI and Logan
Paul is becoming a phenomenon — for all the wrong reasons.

In the latest twist in the drama, Paul hit out at his opponent
for making offensive remarks about his girlfriend, “Agents of
S.H.I.E.L.D” actress Chloe Bennett, in a press conference ahead
of the match on August 25.

During the press conference earlier this month, KSI suggested
he would make a better lover than Paul, who is missing part of
his testicle due to a stunt gone wrong. That was to background
chants of “She’s a hoe!” from the crowd.

In a video titled “DEAR KSI, HERE’S WHY I WALKED OFF STAGE…”,
Paul pointed to KSI’s problematic history of making insulting and
sexist remarks. He specifically referenced
his ban in 2012 from Eurogamer events after he made lewd remarks
to women.

“You talk about my girl like she’s a piece of meat, but you know
women have a choice right,” Paul said. “Sometimes they don’t like
those comments, and I feel like you should have learned from what
happened six years ago. You know what I’m talking about right?
When you lost everything because you were disgusting towards
women?”

Paul revealed that he had warned KSI off talking about Bennett
ahead of the press conference, and that he had contractually
agreed not to mention KSI’s past. He also pointed to an earlier
video where KSI suggested Logan Paul would be unable to kiss
Chloe Bennett after receiving a cut lip — and that he would have
to “f**k her like a prostitute.”

“Before the London press conference, in… what was a mature
attempt to handle this professionally, I had my team send your
team a message that I know for a fact was personally received by
you,” Paul said.

You can read Paul’s purported message to KSI below:

Logan
Paul/YouTube

KSI made
his own video in response to Paul, claiming he was “blowing
this way out of proportion” and that he “didn’t make any
derogatory comments towards Chloe.”

“I was simply making a joke about your lack of testicle,” he
added.

Has the pantomime trash talk turned too nasty?

The world of YouTube creators is full of confected drama, partly
because it’s a medium with zero regulation, and because YouTubers
need to do increasingly outrageous things to stand out —
like fight real-life boxing matches.

It’s possible Logan Paul is emoting outrage in his latest video.
This is, after all, the American vlogger who rose
to fame posting juvenile “prank” videos and who reached

peak notoriety in January for filming a dead body in Japan’s
“suicide forest.” It was a crass decision which cost him ad
revenue and a YouTube deal.

When London-based KSI issued a challenge to fight to Paul, it was
perhaps partly with the idea that nothing would be so satisfying
as watching this fratty vlogger take a right-hook to the face.

And yet KSI’s sexist barbs, a supportive crowd chanting “She’s a
hoe”, and a battle cry of “F**k the Pauls” seems disproportionate
in the effort to build up momentum for their fight on August
25th.

Another sign that the goading has gone too far: BBC Radio 1,
which is targeted at 15- to 29-year-olds, decided not to air
an interview with Logan Paul and KSI after a backlash from
listeners. It was one of the few media interviews the pair were
scheduled to carry out ahead of their fight, a spokesman for KSI
told Business Insider earlier this month.