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- Aspiring influencer Austin Wallace went viral on TikTok after asking YouTuber Logan Paul for a job.
- Wallace said he quit his $100,000 a year job as a welder and drove 12 hours to speak to Paul.
- The TikTok video showing Paul turning him down has 12.5 million views.
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A TikTok video by an aspiring social media star who said he quit his $100,000-a-year job in an attempt to land employment with online personality and boxer Logan Paul has gone viral.
Along with his brother, Jake, 26-year-old Logan Paul has built an empire off the back of his YouTube channel with over 23 million subscribers, where he has been posting vlogs, storytimes, pranks, and other comedic content since September 2016.
The TikTok, which has amassed 12.5 million views since it was uploaded on Sunday, was posted by Austin Wallace, a 22-year-old welder from Ohio. Wallace said that two days after quitting his job he drove 12 hours to talk "business" with Paul.
The TikTok shows Wallace approaching Paul at a press conference for Jake Paul's fight against Tyron Woodley, telling Logan that he "took a risk" in order to ask him for a job.
When asked by Paul what he was "good at," Wallace said he could do TikTok dances. In response to Paul's question of whether he's "got what it takes," Wallace said, "I don't."
"Then why would I give you a job?" Paul asked. "Why would I do that?"
Paul said he could not give Wallace a job, describing his team as "locked." He added, "Go make content and do stuff with your friends. I'm glad you quit your job, it takes balls to do that, but now you gotta activate."
The TikTok shows clips of these interactions, interspersed with Wallace, who appears to be crying, explaining the context.
"I wanna act, I wanna do these things," he said. "I don't know what to do. I did come up here by myself, I do have family but we're not the closest, and I don't have really close friends."
After his story went viral, Wallace posted two more TikToks yesterday. In the first, he responded to the mixed reactions to his viral TikTok, which led some viewers to brand him "pathetic." He said he didn't care about the negative comments, adding, "Just remember, I'm fricking trying."
In the second TikTok, which was directly addressed to Paul, Wallace asked the creator if he could feature on his podcast "Impaulsive."
Wallace then posted a vlog on his YouTube channel, which has 1,051 subscribers, documenting his drive to his former workplace, saying he was going to "beg for [his] job back." Upon returning, he told his viewers he was successful.
Wallace also said in the video that he was contacted by Hector Penete, the host of the HP Podcast, to appear as a guest. The podcast describes itself as a show "about dealing with failure while having the best effort and attitude possible."
"I failed, but there is definitely a silver lining coming," Wallace said. The aspiring influencer then shared a short clip from the podcast, where he said that he was able to share "my side of the story."
Paul has faced a number of controversies over the years, most notably filming what appeared to be a dead body while exploring the Aokigahara forest in Japan. He has since apologized and spoken up on various social justice issues, redeeming himself in the eyes of many.
Neither Paul nor Wallace immediately responded to Insider's request for comment.
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