Jake Paul reveals he contemplated suicide during dark period before boxing saved his life
Jake Paul has lived in the public since he was a teenager but with all that fame also came a lot of hate and it led him to a very dark period in his life.
Following stints acting on the Disney channel and building an online brand through social media, Paul actually found himself as public enemy No. 2 after his brother Logan Paul invited a storm of controversy when he posted a video to his YouTube channel of a suicide victim while visiting Japan’s “suicide forest” back in 2018.
The decision to film and post the video was Logan’s choice but Jake was unable to avoid the fallout.
“I got lumped into all my brother’s hate,” Paul told The Hollywood Reporter. “It was like, ‘F*ck the Pauls. F*ck both of those people.’ It was bad. The suicide forest thing basically ruined my career and income. I lost probably $30 million in deals.
“There was one $15 million deal for retail products that fell apart. They were able to get out of it because of a morality clause.”
The downward spiral from that incident left Paul in a very poor mental head space and he began partying in Los Angeles as a way to cope with his struggles.
“Basically, life hit me in the face, and it was like, ‘Who are you? What have you been doing the past couple of years?’” Paul recounted. “It led to drinking and drugs and Los Angeles and going to parties and just that whole entire world. I got sucked up into it really quickly.
“And so there I am: No money, kind of hating myself, the whole world hates me. I’m drinking. I’m depressed and not having a good relationship with either of my parents or Logan. And I was just like, ‘F*ck this shit.’ I just felt wrong in life and by all the cards I had been dealt. It was f*cked up. I just tried to do good my whole life and here I am with what felt like nothing.”
After initially finding notoriety from viral videos posted online, Paul decided take that fame and use it for an elaborate stunt that would actually conclude in his own death.
“I had a plan,” Paul revealed. “I mean, it’s f*cking crazy. I was going to put a bunch of gas cans in my Lamborghini and get really drunk and drive off the top of this cliff in Calabasas. It’s called Stunt Road.”
In the end, Paul obviously didn’t follow through with those plans but it was from that terrifying time in his life that he actually decided to become a professional fighter.
“I was not going to let them win,” Paul said. “I was like, ‘I’m going to fight. This is what every social media hater wants is to wake up and see Jake Paul killed himself.’”
It was boxing that finally gave Paul the structure and discipline he needed to course correct from all the bad decisions he was making.
He credits the sport for saving his life.
“It’s purpose, routine, health, community — all the things I needed,” Paul said. “Since 2020, it’s been boxing’s No. 1 and everything else comes after that. I never really liked YouTube. I was just good at it.”
Paul has parlayed his passion for boxing into a very successful career where he’s put together a 10-1 professional record with a massive fight booked against heavyweight legend Mike Tyson on Nov. 15 with an event that airs live on Netflix.