As scandal surrounds the MrBeast empire, MrBeast lawyers up and goes into bunker mode

Jimmy "MrBeast" Donaldson's YouTube career began in 2012, and a dozen years and over 800 videos later he is the undisputed king of YouTube. In its earliest years the channel was a relatively unremarkable mix of Minecraft and reaction videos, before Donaldson stumbled upon something that really worked: counting.

These videos, such as one where he counted to 100,000 over nearly 24 hours, racked up views in the tens of millions, and marked the real start for what would become a content empire. MrBeast began 2024 more popular than ever before. Then, at almost the exact point he became the biggest YouTuber in the world, scandal erupted. Allegations of sexualised messages between a longtime collaborator and a minor led to accusations of grooming, the opening for what would become a string of exposes about all corners of the MrBeast empire: from former employees weeping on-camera at their treatment, to contestants in his latest big show claiming mistreatment, and even accusations that some of the giveaways and stunts the channel is known for have been rigged.

Numbers game

We'll get to those in detail, but first how we got here. Donaldson's 2017 counting videos may have been his breakout moment, but plenty of creators have one big success and struggle to replicate it. Donaldson would prove different. If one thing distinguishes MrBeast, it is his uncanny ability to see past the surface nature of what interests people, and dig out the core, repeating elements that can make content consistently successful on YouTube.

Look at those counting videos and you'll note the unerring focus on one person attempting something extraordinary, the stunt-like nature of it, the sense of an improbable challenge paired with great reward. These principles can be summarised as an unusual premise with a prize, and later videos would begin to incorporate twists such as MrBeast being buried alive. The formula didn't just work: it worked exponentially. 

MrBeast's most popular content is stunts such as recreating Squid Game events, and the bigger the channel has become the bigger the stunts. MrBeast is now a globally famous face that begun on YouTube but is now an enormous media empire, with tendrils extending into philanthropy, snacks, and countless spinoffs. Some ventures, like MrBeast Burger, have proven unwise (or as MrBeast himself said in a lawsuit, "revolting"). Others, like an upcoming collaboration with Amazon Prime for the Squid Games takeoff Beast Games, seem destined for success. 

Until now MrBeast has managed to cultivate and maintain a remarkably banal personality. Jimmy Donaldson himself is a constant on-screen presence, but is almost more like a talk show host than the breed of influencer that puts personality first. Previous controversies have been relatively minor, and probably the most damning was that in the channel's earliest years the young Donaldson had used sexist and racist language in chats and videos.

But this year has seen that change in a big way, and the MrBeast empire beset by a range of allegations that have all coincided over the last few months.

Eruption

June 2024 began rather well for Donaldson, as MrBeast officially became Mr Has The Most YouTube Subscribers (current count: 311 million). Then things began falling apart, starting with a YouTube video exposing inappropriate messages between Ava Kris Tyson, an individual who'd been a part of MrBeast's channel from the start, and a MrBeast fan who went by the online handle Lava. The interactions took place when Tyson was 20 and Lava was 14 years old.

This instantly became the biggest story in the streaming world, before one week later the alleged victim posted to deny that they were groomed, and say that Ava Tyson "did nothing wrong." On July 23 Tyson issued a public apology and said that "we’ve mutually decided it’s best I permanently step away from all things MrBeast and social media to focus on my family and mental health."

The following day MrBeast finally found a keyboard, issuing a statement saying he's "disgusted and opposed to such unacceptable acts" and promising an investigation conducted by an independent third party.

Over the days to come further allegations about Tyson's behaviour were made on both Twitter / X and through the release of Discord chat logs on GitHub. The latter prompted Lava to re-evaluate their previous stance, saying "These conversations should not have happened with people at the age I was at the time, I strongly condemn them."

That's more-or-less it for the most potentially explosive accusation being levelled at the MrBeast brand. Tyson is no longer working with MrBeast or his companies, and we have to await the outcome of the promised "robust" investigation.

But then scrutiny began to fall elsewhere. A New York Times article published on August 2 reported on the poor treatment of contestants on the set of Beast Games, an IRL Squid Game takeoff that marks a major collaboration between MrBeast and Amazon Prime. Contestants said they'd slept in an open air stadium, had necessary medications withheld (through incompetence rather than malice), and a strength-based event saw male contestants actively trying to keep women off their team.

Around the same time a new YouTube channel, DogPack404, appeared which claims to be from a former MrBeast employee. The first video is titled "I worked for MrBeast and he's a fraud", currently has 15 million views, and alleges that MrBeast's videos contain fake and even rigged elements, such as undeclared friends or paid actors posing as random subscribers during giveaways.

The second video posted by this channel is titled "I worked for MrBeast, he's a sociopath", with the main event being an interview with Jake Weddle, a comedian and former writer for MrBeast. Weddle recounts two experiences in particular: participating in a challenge video (never released) where he would get $10,000 for every day he could stay in a brightly lit room on his own.

The experience turned into something that was clearly quite harrowing for Weddle, who felt like he was "in a cage" where MrBeast would swoop in every other day, shoot his bits for an hour, then leave (and occasionally call the director with instructions on how Weddle should behave). On the latter point, Weddle says MrBeast once instructed that he should hold up prize money to the camera and say how grateful he was that he could now pay off his student loan. Weddle says that some people would look at this and just say, 'well, you agreed to go in the cage,' but that's the insidious side to the power dynamic. "I don't wanna have student loans, I don't want to be in a cage. But Jimmy's the guy with the money and if you do what he says or what he wants then… [imitating MrBeast] 'oh you want your student loans paid off? Get in a cage.'"

Weddle goes into further detail on his time with MrBeast, including one occasion when he was pushed into trying to run a marathon on a treadmill without any preparation or training, which resulted in him injuring his leg and foot. The individual behind DogPack 404 calls themselves Dawson, is happy to show their face on camera, and also showed a cease-and-desist letter from MrBeast's lawyers. The channel remains live.

Survival challenge

In just over two months the biggest YouTuber on the planet has faced allegations of his closest collaborator grooming a minor, mistreatment of contestants in the channel's videos, mistreatment of employees, and faking elements of the stunts that the channel is arguably famous for.

It's reached the kind of fever pitch where nothing can become something. The absence of longterm cameraman Chandler from MrBeast's latest video, in which he spends seven days in a cave, sparked speculation that he too had departed the channel (MrBeast has yet to address this, but not every crew member appears in every video anyway). There have been allegations that the channel is "censoring" comments from fans about the recent controversies en masse, that a violent individual with a long record was allowed to compete in the Beast Games, and even that Donaldson himself was involved in covering up questionable behaviour from employees.

MrBeast's partner Thea Booysen did vaguely address the controversy on YouTube, writing: "There is so much that is not being said, I wish I could talk more about the situation. Half the things that are said are not true, I wouldn’t be with him if they were." This comment was subsequently deleted though the internet never forgets.

Other than that, the MrBeast strategy for the moment is total radio silence. Bar one thing. As these allegations have swirled around the MrBeast empire, a confidential internal memo addressed to "Team Beast" staff was 'leaked' to the Associated Press, which a spokesperson confirmed was legitimate.

"As your leader, I take responsibility, and I am committed to continue to improve and evolve my leadership style," writes Donaldson in the communication. "I recognize that I also need to create a culture that makes all our employees feel safe and allows them to do their best work."

The message to staff also reveals Donaldson has hired law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan to investigate Ava Tyson over the inappropriate messages with minors, on top of a full assessment of the internal culture and investigation into "allegations of inappropriate behavior by people in the company."

This is followed by some fairly boilerplate promises. MrBeast plans to hire a chief human resources officer, mandate company-wide sensitivity training, offer an "anonymous reporting mechanism" for complaints, and "foster a better internal culture as we continue to grow."

None of this seems especially Earth-shattering, but it's what may yet come from it that could be. MrBeast has thus far foregone the usual response of a mea culpa, and allowed the allegations and rumours to gain momentum without addressing them (other than the Ava Tyson case, where he really had no choice but to issue a public condemnation). But that has created a vacuum where more claims are beginning to pile up, randoms on the internet are claiming insider information, and it's becoming harder to separate the serious allegations and potential wrongdoing from exaggerated internet scuttlebutt.

All of which is a problem for Donaldson because, when it comes to his company, MrBeast is not just the name but the face and personality that powers the entire brand. The success or failure of the MrBeast empire rests on Donaldson's shoulders and his public image exclusively and, should any of these allegations end up going further and begin to taint that, the whole thing could come down like a pack of cards.

The consumer backlash can already be seen on his most recent video, which is about surviving for a week in a cave and makes no reference to any of this stuff. The comments section is currently dominated by variants on "Ronaldo is coming," a reference to the incredible popularity of footballer Cristiano Ronaldo's new YouTube channel, dotted among which are comments like this from NCState47: "Next Survival Challenge: $10,000 every day Jimmy treats his employees right."

One or two of those is no big deal, but they're there (and fans are complaining that many are also being removed). There's the unmistakable whiff of scandal which, alongside Donaldson's unwillingness to come out and address many of the criticisms head-on, makes you wonder what more there could possibly be to come.

Who knows, this may all blow over. But as investigators begin picking up the rocks around these allegations, and seeing what lies beneath, the biggest question is what if anything they'll find on the man who's paying them to investigate. MrBeast is the biggest YouTuber on Earth. He might have nothing to answer for. He might seem untouchable even if he did. But at this kind of scale, it's never the bad thing that does for you. It's the crowd completely losing trust.