YouTube star MrBeast, a philanthropic force with nearly unrivalled influence among young audiences, acknowledged on Wednesday that he used “inappropriate language” in his early online days, as controversies surrounded him and a former collaborator.
MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, and his reported 700 million-dollar (£546 million) empire have come under new fire in recent weeks after accusations of past racist comments by Mr Donaldson surfaced along with allegations that a longtime colleague made inappropriate sexual comments to minors.
“When Jimmy was a teenager he acted like many kids 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 apologised 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.”
His highly produced videos of whimsical challenges and lavish gifts, often accompanied by expressive thumbnails and punchy titles, have drawn a record 307 million YouTube subscribers.
His latest uploads include Ages 1 – 100 Decide Who Wins 250,000 dollars, and I Built 100 Houses And Gave Them Away! which, like most of his videos, garnered more than 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”.
Mr Donaldson’s greater ambition made itself plain in recent years through the launch of his snack brand Feastables, a branded burger chain with reviews bad enough that he sued the company behind it, and an Amazon Prime Video deal for a 1,000-contestant reality competition show.
But before bringing his often-absurd charitable acts to YouTube, Mr Donaldson built a sizable following as a gaming content creator who sometimes interacted with viewers on livestreams.
In a 2017 clip circulated by YouTube influencer Rosanna Pansino in a July 24 post on X, formerly twitter, Mr Donaldson responded to a viewer who commented about selling black people for money and said that “the most I would pay is probably 300”.
Mr Donaldson also used a homophobic slur at multiple points. After one commenter repeated a racial slur, Mr Donaldson eventually instructed his audience to stop using that word in the chat.
Ms Pansino told AP that contrary to popular opinion, it’s “just not true” that Mr Donaldson has always made “family friendly content”.
“His first videos, where he was trying to be an edgy gamer and streamer, and he said horrible things and nasty things — I didn’t know that,” Ms Pansino said. “I had no idea that history was there.”
In a separate clip from a May 2017 podcast appearance, Mr Donaldson suggested he would have sex with the rapper Bhad Bhabie, whose real name is Danielle Bregoli and who was 14 years old at the time. The video has since been removed for “violating YouTube’s community guidelines”.
Podcast co-host Leon Lush defended Mr Donaldson in a video posted on X last week. Mr Lush said Mr Donaldson clarified later on the episode that he “wouldn’t do that” because Ms Bregoli was “way too young” and had joked they should “say something offensive that people can take out of context”.
Mr Lush added that the recording is “cringe in hindsight” and dismissed the outcry as “a molehill turning into a mountain.”
“Being unfunny seems like the worst offense here. When you mix a propensity for dark humor with blind ambition for attention, you get” this content sometimes, Mr Lush said. “Was being edgy the best strategy? Certainly not, although it did work sometimes as far as getting attention.”
Those clips emerged as internet sleuths alleged that longtime MrBeast collaborator Ava Kris Tyson interacted inappropriately with minors online.
Under scrutiny are Ms 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 twisting the truth”.
Ms Tyson announced her departure from “all things MrBeast and social media” in a July 23 post on X. Mr Donaldson posted on July 24 that he was “disgusted and opposed to such unacceptable acts” and is hiring independent investigators to look into the allegations.
Ms Tyson has been the target of transphobic attacks since she came out last year as transgender. Last April, Mr Donaldson defended his close friend against a video describing her as a “nightmare” for MrBeast. Mr Donaldson wrote on X then that “this is getting absurd,” affirmed their friendship and said “this transphobia” was starting to anger him.
Last week, a former employee accused Mr Donaldson of rigging the contests in his videos, running illegal lotteries and deceiving his fans. The person made the sweeping accusations under an alias in a YouTube video that has reached over 6.9 million views since it was posted last week.
Mr Donaldson has not publicly responded to the unsubstantiated claims. Chucky Appleby, who co-founded YouTube analytics platform ViewStats alongside Mr Donaldson, said the former employee was sacked within a month after displaying “erratic behaviour”.
