Logan Paul Denies Staging Fake Pokemon Card Scandal

Logan Paul claims he did not stage his recent Pokemon card scandal. Over the past few weeks, Logan Paul has made headlines once again by being at the center of a Pokemon card controversy. This time, Paul was the victim of a supposed scam in which he purchased an unopened case of 1st Edition Base Set Pokemon cards for $3.5 million only to discover that the box contained G.I. Joe cards in resealed Pokemon booster case boxes. Given that Paul actually knows several qualified Pokemon card experts and also has a penchant for finding new ways to generate views for his YouTube video empire, many wondered if Paul knew the booster box was fake and that he staged the whole incident for publicity. 

Paul responded to those accusations this week on his Impaulsive podcast. ""I see comments. They think I was acting. They think it's fake," Paul said. "But it's not. It's not fake at all. Being in that room that night was incredibly sad. The energy and the tragic feeling in the room was so palpable." Paul did release a video in which he, a representative from Baseball Card Exchange, the sports card authentication company that authenticated the box, and the previous owner of the box discovered that they were duped. And to Paul's credit, it makes no sense for Baseball Card Exchange or the previous owner to be involved in that video if it were staged, as they both took major hits to their reputations and egos. Baseball Card Exchange announced after the video was posted that they were suspending their authentication of Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh card boxes until their authentication processes were reviewed and strengthened. 

Paul also confirmed on the podcast that he received a refund for his purchase of the cards and that he was working with the previous owner to ensure they got the $2.7 million back for originally purchasing the cards. Our previous report noted that legal action was possible as the original source of the cards refused to refund the money. Paul also teased turning the hunt for the scammer into a documentary of some kind, as various members of the Pokemon card community already have a strong suspicion that the case came from a known scammer who lives in Canada. 

Obviously, Paul will continue to string this story out for maximum hits, so there's likely to be a few more updates along the way. We'll report on the relevant bits of the story, as it does represent a major scandal within the Pokemon card community, even if the person at the center of it is enjoying the attention.