Jake Paul has apologized for saying he has early signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) during Thursday's media day for the YouTuber's boxing exhibition with Ben Askren.
Jake Paul spoke on his newfound commitment to boxing and the dangers of the sport, claiming he has gotten brain scans allegedly revealing early signs of brain degeneration:
“I’ve gone and gotten brain scans and have early signs of CTE, but I love this sport and I wouldn’t trade it for anything else,” Paul said, via Yahoo Sports. “I’m a fighter and people will see that. Whether it’s after Saturday night or a year from now. They will see that I’m a fighter.”
But Jake Paul retracted the comment on Friday:
“I wanna retract my comments made about CTE as it relates to me and my medical history,” Paul tweeted. “It’s a very serious condition that I should not have misspoken about.”




The initial comments made waves on social media, both for being insensitive as well as inaccurate. Multiple persons noted early brain scans do not detect “early signs” of CTE. There is a difference between exhibiting symptoms and a concrete diagnosis.
For the record, there are absolutely no brain scans that can detect early signs of CTE.
So Jake Paul is just saying this to be cool. https://t.co/dFMcIVlx4V
— MiddleEasy (@MiddleEasy) April 15, 2021
Additionally, it remains to be seen whether Jake Paul is being genuine in his retraction. He very well could be doing so to prevent the Georgia Commission from scrapping his bout with Askren over potential concerns for his health and safety.
The whole situation is quite odd. Regardless, it appears the fight against Askren will go on as planned. The two will go at it Saturday night in Atlanta.