NEW YORK — MrBeast, YouTube’s biggest star and a philanthropic force with almost unparalleled influence among young audiences, acknowledged Wednesday that he used “inappropriate language” in his early days online as numerous controversies swirled around him and an ex. -collaborator.
MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, and his alleged $700 million empire have come under renewed attack in recent weeks after accusations of Donaldson’s past racist comments emerged, along with allegations that a longtime colleague made the comments inappropriate sexual relations with minors.
“When Jimmy was a teenager, he acted like many children and used inappropriate language while trying to be funny,” a spokesperson for the YouTuber said in a statement to the Associated Press. “Over the years, he has repeatedly apologized and learned that increasing influence comes with greater responsibility to be more aware of and more sensitive to the power of language. After making some bad jokes and other mistakes when he was younger, as an adult he focused on getting involved with the MrBeast community to work together to make a positive impact around the world.”
His highly produced videos of extravagant challenges and lavish gifts, often accompanied by expressive thumbnails and punchy titles, have attracted a record 307 million YouTube subscribers. His latest uploads include “Ages 1 – 100 Decide Who Wins $250,000” and “I Built 100 Houses And Gave Them Away!” which, like most of her videos, has garnered over 100 million views.
The philanthropic sector has received this content with a mix of praise for encouraging direct generosity and criticism of exploitative “inspiration porn.” Donaldson’s greatest ambition has become evident in recent years through the launch of his Feastables snack brand, a chain of branded burgers with bad enough reviews that he sued the company behind it, and a deal with Amazon Prime Video for a competitive reality show with 1,000 participants.
But before he overtook YouTube with his often absurd acts of charity, Donaldson built a sizable following as a gaming content creator who sometimes interacted with viewers on live streams.
In a 2017 clip released by YouTube influencer Rosanna Pansino in a July 24 post on Donaldson also used homophobic slurs at several points. After a commenter repeated a racial slur, Donaldson finally instructed his audience to stop using that word in chat.
Pansino told the AP that he has worked on several potential business ventures with Donaldson in recent years, although none have been launched. Last fall, she publicly complained about an edited appearance of her in a MrBeast video, but ended up deleting the posts after saying she received death threats from fans.
Pansino said that, contrary to popular opinion, it is “simply not true” that Donaldson has always created “family-friendly content.”
“His first few videos, where he was trying to be an edgy gamer and streamer, and saying horrible, nasty things — I didn’t know that,” Pansino said.
In a separate clip from a May 2017 podcast appearance, Donaldson suggested that she would have sex with rapper Bhad Bhabie, whose real name is Danielle Bregoli and who was 14 at the time. The video has since been removed for “violating YouTube’s community guidelines.”
Podcast co-host Leon Lush defended Donaldson in a video posted to X last week. Lush said Donaldson clarified later in the episode that he “wouldn’t do that” because Bregoli was “too young” and joked that they should “say something offensive that people might take out of context.”
Lush added that the recording is “chilling in retrospect” and dismissed the outcry as “a molehill turning into a mountain.”
“Not being funny seems to be the worst offense here. When you mix a penchant for dark humor with a blind ambition for attention, sometimes you get “that content,” Lush said. “Was being nervous the best strategy? Certainly not, although it sometimes worked when it came to getting attention.”
These clips emerged when Internet sleuths alleged that longtime MrBeast contributor Ava Kris Tyson interacted inappropriately with minors online.
Under scrutiny are Tyson’s past conversations with an underage teenage fan, including public posts where the two discussed nude images and anime pornography. The fan denied any exploitation in a July 22 post on X, describing such accusations as “massive lies and distortion of the truth.”
On a July 24th post on X, Nate Weyman said he and the fan did unpaid technical work running Tyson’s streams and that they would all play video games together “for hours on end.” Weyman said Tyson had a private Discord server with about 10 people, most under the age of 14, and frequently spammed the server with pornographic images.
Tyson announced his departure from “all things MrBeast and social media” in a July 23 post on X. Donaldson posted on July 24 that he was “disgusted and opposed to such unacceptable acts” and is hiring independent investigators to investigate the allegations.
Tyson has been the target of transphobic attacks since coming out as transgender last year. Last April, Donaldson defended her close friend against a video that described her as a “nightmare” to MrBeast. Donaldson wrote in X then that “this is getting absurd”, affirmed their friendship and said that “this transphobia” was starting to irritate him.
Last week, a former employee accused Donaldson of rigging contests in his videos, running illegal lotteries and scamming his fans. The person made the sweeping accusations under a pseudonym in a YouTube video that has reached more than 6.9 million views since it was posted last week.
Donaldson has not publicly responded to the unsubstantiated allegations. Chucky Appleby, who co-founded YouTube analytics platform ViewStats alongside Donaldson, said the former employee was fired a month after exhibiting “erratic behavior.” In a July 29 post on
“Jimmy spends unfathomable amounts of money and time to ensure the integrity of what he does,” said Appleby. “I hate to see this questioned with a bunch of lies.”
The AP sent direct messages to several social media users behind the series of accusations, as well as the underage fan.
Matthew Wade, a sociology professor at La Trobe University with a focus on the ethics of charity, credited Beast Philanthropy for establishing partnerships with reputable philanthropic organizations. The “awkward tone and occasional rudeness” of Donaldson’s style may have been worth his “truly extraordinary reach” to nonprofits eager to boost support for their causes, Wade told the AP in an email.
But risk calculations could change, he said.
“Charities and philanthropic foundations cannot gamble with their reputation,” Wade said. “They must be seen as beyond reproach, and the constant accumulation of controversies surrounding the MrBeast brand can easily tarnish their immaculate shine.”
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