Jake Paul began trending on Twitter on Sunday after video emerged of the YouTube star in the midst of looting and vandalism at an Arizona mall.
In a video he shared on Instagram Stories, Paul was in Fashion Square in Scottsdale, Arizona, surrounded by looters ripping off merchandise from stores, along with random acts of vandalism.
While Paul doesn’t appear to be looting, that’s not the case with those around him.
“Bunch of f**king idiots, bro. Literally I walked right here, right up to there,” he says in the video, gesturing toward police.
“These f**king idiots teargassed me,” he added. “I ain’t doing s**t, bro. Look at them pointing guns at me.”In a caption, he wrote, “America is in ruins.”
YouTube star Jake Paul is trending on Twitter after being spotted looting and vandalizing in the middle of a mall. pic.twitter.com/o0ugpNlQ4u
— Pop Crave (@PopCraveMusic) May 31, 2020
After video was posted on social media by Paul’s videographer, Andrew Blue, Paul was hit by a tsunami of backlash.
jake paul a white guy with a 19 million dollar net worth, is looting a mall while black people are out there protesting for their rights, yall see the problem? pic.twitter.com/vFzFS80uwV
— 𝖒𝖆𝖗𝖎𝖔 (@mario_xcx) May 31, 2020
people are out in the streets fighting for race equality while being shot with rubber bullets, tear gassed, being physically handled by police, meanwhile jake paul – A MULTI MILLIONAIRE – is using this as an opportunity to go looting. his motivations aren’t rooted in equality.
— Jack Hodgson (@hodgack) May 31, 2020
Jake Paul hijacking the black lives matter movement to loot a mall for youtube content is one of the most Jake Paul moves I could imagine, what an absolute waste of space he and his brother are
— yeah i’m still emo, so what? (@ThyArtIsMemes) May 31, 2020
this. to the jake paul’s of the world, those EMBODYING white privilege, publicly victimizing themselves for being tear gassed yet showing up with vlog cameras only to loot and trash the city is beyond unacceptable. if you’re not coming to fight for black lives, don’t come at all. https://t.co/G0r8w60FTU
— Lauren Sanderson (@LaurenSanderson) May 31, 2020
Jake Paul looting and using the death of unarmed black men by police for vlog views is disgusting but it’s exactly who he is.
he didn’t march in solidarity with anyone he showed up hours after to loot a mall for VIEWS. Jake cares about no one but himself & money. he needs help.
— Zach Sang (@zachsang) May 31, 2020
According to Us Weekly, Blue took to Instagram Stories on Sunday, May 31, to clarify.
“Just for clarity, I am a videographer and my job is to document virtually everything,” he wrote. “We were strictly documenting the situation and doing our part to use our platform to raise awareness about the horrific event and overall injustice. Nobody with us was looting or vandalizing, bit it certainly was tragic to see and while we understand the frustration, we don’t condone or support any behaviour like that.”
Paul also took to social media, issuing a statement on Twitter, insisting that “neither I nor anyone in our group was engaged in any looting or vandalism.”
He added, “I do not condone violence, looting or breaking the law; however, I understand the anger and frustration that led to the destruction we witnessed and while it’s not the answer, it’s important that people see it and collectively figure out how to move forward in a healthy way.”
— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) May 31, 2020
