MrBeast, the world’s most subscribed to YouTuber, has been embroiled in intense controversy in recent months. MrBeast, legally known as James Donaldson, has amassed over 300 million subscribers since he started on YouTube in February 2012. Most well known for his extreme challenge videos and bright thumbnails, the majority of his content is geared toward children. MrBeast has collaborated with numerous charities during his career, including his own. He has also worked with well-known celebrities such as Cristiano Ronaldo.
A former MrBeast employee going by the name DogPack404 created a nearly one hour long video claiming that Donaldson fakes his videos, uses paid actors for challenges, rigs results and more. Along with these allegations, Donaldson has received criticism for his toxic filming settings and connections to another former employee, Ava Kris Tyson. There have been leaked work chats between Donaldson and his employees on Telegram, a messaging service, which show Ava Kris Tyson sending inappropriate messages to the work chat which Donaldson was also a part of. Due to these compounding allegations, the FBI initiated an investigation on Donaldson.
“I know my younger siblings have watched MrBeast, and to know that he is part of these kinds of acts shocks me,” sophomore Bella Bodenhorn said. “As a YouTuber whose targeted audience are children, some of the screenshots released are hard to believe.”
Many are also concerned by Donaldson’s new challenge show on Amazon Prime Video called “The Beast Games,” in which individuals compete to win $5 million. Another YouTuber named Rosanna Pansino, who has personal experience being part of a MrBeast challenge video, came forward in a video claiming that a participant of the show has shared horrifying behind the scenes information to her. These allegations included that participants were being refused food and water and that many were injured during filming.
“I’m surprised to hear that MrBeast is considered corrupt. His YouTube channel is definitely over the top when it comes to challenges, so I think anyone who goes on the show should expect to encounter difficult situations,” social studies teacher Dr. D’Orsogna said.
MrBeast addressed the accusations in an interview. On November 23, 2024, a commentary YouTuber by the name of oompaville released a two-hour-long interview with Donaldson. In the interview, Donaldson denied all the allegations made against him, simply claiming that they were untrue.
“Every celebrity and influencer has received many allegations against them over the years. This is nothing new or surprising,” sophomore Carla Yanez-Delgado said.
Amidst the backlash, Mr. Beast continues to post on his YouTube channel, with each video continuing to receive over 100 million views. The long-term impacts these accusations will have on MrBeast and YouTube as a whole are currently unknown.
