Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, is currently the world’s largest content creator with over 300 million subscribers on YouTube alone at the age of 26. MrBeast started his YouTube journey posting Youtube videos in early 2012. However, it was not until 2017 when his “Counting to 100,000” video went viral, making the dream of becoming a full time YouTuber a possibility. Today, the MrBeast channel has evolved into a brand advocating complete video authenticity and displaying great generosity. Uploads such as “I Built 100 Houses And Gave Them Away!”, “$1 vs $250,000,000 Private Island!”, and many other varieties of videos that become more unimaginable then the last, have led MrBeast to where he is today.
However, MrBeast’s channel and the advocacy from it could not be further from reality. Despite Donaldson constantly reminding his audience that anything and everything within his videos are 100% real, sources from his past, current workers, partnerships, and fellow creators, have proven this statement to be incredibly false. YouTuber DogPack404, a former employee of MrBeast, goes into immense detail about the deceptive nature of the MrBeast company. In his videos he exposes the dark reality of not only Donaldson, but also the business itself. Within DogPack404’s video, “I Worked For MrBeast, He’s A Fraud,” he mentions how CGI is often incorporated in MrBeast’s videos. Often featuring fabricated story lines, and heavily scripted challenges rather than credible ones. Additionally, DogPack404 proves that the contestants are not random subscribers as originally and frequently advertised within videos, but lesser known coworkers, as well as their friends and family. Evidence of this is clear. Allegations include Mack, the newest member within the Mr.Beast crew, moving from California to North Carolina (where MrBeast is located) in August of 2023. Mack was an editor for the company before appearing as a “random contestant” on the channel two months later. Eventually winning $800,000 within a challenge. Mack was illustrated as if MrBeast changed his life, when in reality it was entirely staged from the start. It seems as if Donaldson is deceiving his young audience to gain their trust and to profit off of their support.
However, the deception extends further than individual videos and is greatly incorporated within the channel streams as well. Occasionally, MrBeast and his main crew will host live YouTube streams, where they autograph limited merchandise as fans purchase them. Tactics such as “too good to be true” offers, like giving away iPhones and large sums of money, are common. These offers are included within packages to attract sympathy from audiences. For example, the crew might mention how customer purchases do not even compare to what is freely being given away. Another tactic is creating a false sense of urgency. This could be done by claiming merchandise will never be autographed again, even when that is simply not the truth. These are just a few of the manipulation tactics used by Donaldson and his team within their live streams to deceive children and generate a profit.
Despite the authenticity the channel originally advocates, profit has been proven to be the most important aspect of the company, as MrBeast makes a great amount of it. Jake Weddle, a former employee of MrBeast, is one of many victims of the company’s greediness, as his mental and physical health were seriously jeopardized for a production of a video that ended up not even being released. Weddle published a series of videos on his own YouTube channel @Jake Weddle, where he goes into immense detail of not only what it is like working for the business, but also his experience within one of the channel’s challenges itself. The horrors of working at MrBeast were emphasized by Weddle as he mentioned those who butted heads with Donaldson would no longer be in the picture, meaning it was nearly impossible to speak against any wrong-doing without the risk of potential unemployment. As he himself, and an additional coworker were let go after asking for fair pay, as their contributions helped the channel generate millions. The fear, however, expanded greater as Weddle mentioned a registered sex offender was working as a major aspect to the company, which not only was known by MrBeast, but other higher ups as well. While he was nicknamed “Delaware,” the company attempted to get him off the registry, as they found his committed sex crimes within the state to be unserious.
It is clear there are many sides to the MrBeast company, however, Donaldson generously giving out money while being worshiped like a saint, is the only one meant for each and every viewer to see. Those who are speaking out upon the situation are actively being silenced, and additionally being threatened with serious legal action. Despite the difficulties, victims, past workers, and fans are frequently coming out with their statements and thoughts on the matter. Oliver Kolb, Senior at CHS, had a few things to say about the situation.
“It’s such a specific group of people who are actually researching, and caring about this that it doesn’t even reach most of his audience,” he said when discussing the likelihood of this having an impact on MrBeast’s career or not.
“I think it’s a really weird thing that now that we have YouTube, and Twitch, and all that stuff where we just idealize and just put these people on a pedestal,” Kolb said. “I feel like there’s still a lot of people who don’t realize creators are putting on a face, they could be really good at acting, they could be putting on a performance, creators can’t always be trusted.”
From having unsafe and toxic work conditions, to manipulating children and hiring sex offenders, MrBeast has proved viewers cannot trust everything they see on the internet.