The BBC wanted to ask Logan Paul serious questions about his cryptocurrency dealings. Logan Paul sent a lookalike to the interview.
That is the twist in the BBC documentary, Logan Paul: Bad Influence?, premiering on BBC3 and iPlayer on Wednesday. It is presented by journalist Matt Shea.
Shea spent months chasing Paul for an interview after his investigation raised concerns that the YouTube star may have profited from misleading fans about crypto. Paul denies wrongdoing.
Paul eventually — and unexpectedly — agreed to a sit down with the BBC at the boxing gym in Puerto Rico he owns with his brother Jake Paul. The trouble is, he sent a lookalike instead.
Logan Paul’s lookalike
BBC cameras captured the encounter with the doppelganger, who claims to be Paul. “Is Logan coming?” Shea asks. “I’m right here bud,” the lookalike replies.
Their exchange, published by BBC News, is then interrupted by a group of people with megaphones shouting: “BBC is vile. They hire pedophiles.”
This a reference to an attack line against the BBC that has taken root online following the Jimmy Savile and Huw Edwards scandals.
Jamie Tahsin, the producer/director of Logan Paul: Bad Influence?, concluded: “We had flown all that way just to be trolled.”
Shea has got form when it comes to confronting social media influencers. He interviewed Andrew Tate last year, but the former mixed martial artist walked out of the exchange over “leading” questions.