Millionaire Youtuber Jake Paul has been accused of involving himself with looting during rioting in Arizona. The internet star who is estimated to have amassed a fortune of $19 million from his online presence was captured on cellphone footage by a Mr. Andrew Blue who is Mr. Paul’s official cameraman.
FUCK JAKE PAUL he’s at fashion square looting while people are protesting n being teargassed downtown pic.twitter.com/jM18sBU80L
— sam (@HELLAGHOUL) May 31, 2020
The incident took place in the Fashion Square Mall in Scottsdale. The video footage shows Jake Paul in amongst the looting mob but does not show him vandalising or looting property himself. The cameraman has since stated that both men were there simply as reporters logging what was happening. In the video a voice can be heard talking about how they had been teargassed and had guns pulled on them:
“Bunch of f–king idiots, bro. Literally, I walked right here, right up to there. These f–king idiots teargassed me. I ain’t doing s–t, bro. Look at them pointing guns at me. Look at them. Twenty guns on me. Twenty guns on me right now.” It is unclear who the voice is coming from.
Andrew Blue then went on to make a statement on the incident on Instagram:
“Just for clarity, I am a videographer and my job is to document virtually everything. 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 behavior like that.”
Jake Paul also distanced himself from the looting and vandalism but said he fully supported the protests:
“To be absolutely clear, neither I nor anyone in our group was engaged in any looting or vandalism. For context, we spent the day doing our part to peacefully protest one of the most horrific injustices our country has ever seen, which led to use being tear-gassed for filming the events and brutality that were unfolding in Arizona. We were gassed and forced to keep moving on foot. We filmed everything we saw in an effort to share our experience and bring more attention to the anger felt in every neighborhood we traveled through; we were strictly documenting, not engaging.”
However, many on social media were highly critical of the star and influencer being seen amongst a crowd engaged in criminal activity – or that he was making a self-serving video (and money) off the back of a legitimate protest against racism:
Jake Paul, a millionaire, is looting a mall so that he could post a YouTube video about it and add more to his wealth. You can’t make this shit up.
— Walt (@UberKryptonian) 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
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.
— Zach Sang (@zachsang) May 31, 2020
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.
While Paul may come in for legitimate criticism for attempting to ‘hijack’ the protests to advance his own persona and his own business interests on the other hand it is hardly strange that a man who makes his living by filming things and commenting on them would avoid a major story occurring near his own place of residence. Particularly as he states he believes in the protests himself.
Opinion remains divided.
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