You may not have heard of Jimmy Donaldson, 26, better known as MrBeast — the most popular YouTuber in the world, with more than 308 million subscribers. Your teens will know all. But it’s likely you have seen one of his heartwarming viral videos — perhaps his first philanthropic hit — “Giving a Random Homeless Man $10,000.”
Recorded in 2017, it’s painful, awkward, touching on a primal level — you get a lump in your throat. Until recently, Donaldson was like something out of Disney, making the world how you want it to be.
He explains to viewers (110 million so far) that he’s been given the $10,000 by a sponsor, then walks up to a homeless guy and hands over the lot in a fat brown envelope. When the man, stunned, explains how he’s struggled, Donaldson says, “I can’t relate, I’m way too privileged.” He asks to see where he’s sheltering — voyeuristic but good for views — but when the man is reluctant, says, “I don’t want to overstep.”
The success of that video, a spark of humanity in the darkness, if slightly uncomfortable, lit his path to fame. MrBeast’s content is gripping, uplifting. It’s also unusual in that, amid some depressingly inevitable racism and misogyny within the streaming community, it is so wholesome. Donaldson presents as a smart, sweet geek filming himself doing good, using kindness and millions of dollars to transform lives (no catch, no strings, except that your desperate situation and fairytale rescue is being exposed to millions of goggling viewers).
One of his biggest stunts, $456,000 Squid Game in Real Life — in which 456 people, each paid $1,000 a day, competed to win nearly half a million dollars — cost $3.5 million to create (these days his videos are high-production and his haircut cooler) and has 630 million views. Not that surprising, then, that this year he secured a deal with Amazon MGM to produce and host a massive reality TV game show called Beast Games.
Donaldson presents as a smart, sweet geek filming himself doing good, using kindness and millions of dollars to transform lives.
But now his golden reputation may have been compromised. Last week, in The New York Times, several people who had taken part in a selection event for Beast Games claimed that some competitors had injuries requiring hospitalization, and that provision of food and medical care had been inadequate. “We signed up for the show, but we didn’t sign up for not being fed or watered or treated like human beings,” one contestant said.
In response, a spokesperson for MrBeast informed the newspaper via text that a formal review was being undertaken into the event, which had been beset by “extreme weather and other unexpected logistical and communications issues.”
In terms of PR, July wasn’t great for Donaldson, who also acknowledged using inappropriate language early in his online career, after evidence resurfaced of him making racist remarks and sexual comments about a 14-year-old girl.
During a live stream in 2017, he responds to a user comment about selling black people for money with a racist term and says “the most I would pay is probably 300”. Donaldson eventually tells his audience to stop using the offensive word.
In a separate clip from a podcast appearance, he suggests he’d have sex with a social media star, then 14 years old, before adding, “I wouldn’t … she’s way too young.” The video has since been removed for violating YouTube community guidelines.
Now he has released a statement via a spokesman: “When Jimmy was a teenager he acted like many kids and used inappropriate language while trying to be funny. Over the years he has repeatedly apologized and has learned that increasing influence comes with increased responsibility to be more aware and more sensitive to the power of language.
“After making some bad jokes and other mistakes when he was younger, as an adult he has focused on engaging with the MrBeast community to work together on making a positive impact around the world.”
Donaldson also issued a statement on Twitter/X cutting ties with his former co-host and childhood friend Ava Kris Tyson, 28, a transgender woman, after it was alleged that Tyson sent inappropriate messages to a 13-year-old who (also allegedly) won a contest on MrBeast’s YouTube channel. Tyson’s racially offensive comments on social media, and dubious interactions with an artist who draws young characters in sexual poses, have also come to light.
Donaldson posted on Twitter/X: “Over the last few days, I’ve become aware of the serious allegations of Ava Tyson’s behaviour online and I am disgusted and opposed to such unacceptable acts … I’ve seen enough online and taken immediate action to remove Ava from the company, my channel, and any association with MrBeast.
“I do not condone or support any of the inappropriate actions. I will allow the independent investigators the necessary time to conduct a comprehensive investigation and will take any further actions based on their findings.”
Tyson, meanwhile, had already announced the separation on Twitter/X and given one of those conditional apologies, “I would like to apologise for any of my past behaviour or comments if it hurt or offended anyone. It was not my intent. Seeing recent events 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.”
It’s all highly unpleasant, repellent, depressing, and makes you want to put away your screen and try to find solace by, say, looking at a tree. (Incidentally, one of Donaldson’s philanthropic initiatives has been to plant 20 million trees in America — for which he organized a fundraiser and partnered with the non-profit tree planting organization the Arbor Day Foundation.)
Donaldson, from Greenville, North Carolina, started streaming aged 13 and has come a long way since delighting viewers with mildly amusing commentary while playing Minecraft, and uninspired stunts such as counting to 100,000 over 40 hours, and watching a terrible hip-hop video on repeat for ten hours.
It’s all highly unpleasant, repellent, depressing, and makes you want to put away your screen and try to find solace by, say, looking at a tree.
This harmless masochism earned him a following of one million. His (largely young) audience grew — clearly, Gen Z are hungry for easy positivity, outlandish generosity and silly, uplifting entertainment with big cash prizes. He has an estimated fortune of more than $700 million.
Until recently, it was fairly hard to pick fault, even if you were the cynical type. “I Adopted Every Dog in a Dog Shelter” took him and his pack of witty, affable nerds nine months to film, and involved a wildly cute and successful marketing campaign, which drove dog lovers to the shelter. He’d then pop up and give them $5,000, or ten years of free dog food, as a bonus. If that doesn’t move you, try “1,000 Deaf People Hear for the First Time.” Or “I Built 100 Wells in Africa,” which was posted eight months ago and has 197 million views.
“I Built 100 Houses and Gave Them Away!”— 110 million views — involved Donaldson and his team going to Jamaica, El Salvador, Mexico, Argentina and Colombia and spending millions to build new homes for families living in makeshift shacks: “Take off your blindfolds and turn around — behind you is your brand new home!”
While some decried it as poverty porn, it’s certainly more of a worthwhile endeavor than other globally successful YouTubers’ choices. Also, one might reasonably ask how many millions his critics had spent building homes for vulnerable families.
A more common reaction was “MrBeast for president”. It’s hard to argue against the sight of a child crying with joy as they walk around their new, free, weatherproof home, and the overwhelming emotion of a young father (we’re told his name is Jon, and his wife is Ana) hugging MrBeast, who says, “Congrats, man. Congrats. This is yours.” And then adds, “We got bicycles for every single kid in this village.”
Is it a bit exploitative? Are we in white savior territory? It is good that we are now programmed to ask such questions. But equally, maybe we can just accept that he is more altruistic than most (for every project he consults relevant charities and lists them beneath his YouTube videos).
We like our heroes untarnished. It’s disappointing that some ugliness has emerged, and being young doesn’t excuse Donaldson’s racist language. Yet all teenagers make mistakes of varying severity. Maybe my generation were fortunate to make theirs in private.
Anna Maxted has been a freelance writer for more than 30 years, for a variety of newspapers and magazines
