MrBeast's Biggest Controversies And Scandals, Explained

Whether you know him from his Amazon Prime series, his different food brands, or his long history as one of the biggest YouTubers on the planet, you've definitely heard of Jimmy "MrBeast" Donaldson. With more than 300 million subscribers on YouTube, MrBeast is one of the most successful creators on the internet, and his videos regularly rack up well over 100 million views. Fans have come to love MrBeast's presentational style, the lengths he'll go to for a great video, and his tendency to give away millions of dollars without blinking an eye.

Perhaps in the future MrBeast will be better known for hosting reality TV shows like "Beast Games," but for now he's still usually referred to as YouTube's biggest philanthropist. In his videos, MrBeast gives away cars, homes, and life-changing vision surgeries. Throughout every game in "Beast Games," MrBeast gave away millions of dollars to the show's competitors. It's undeniable that many people love MrBeast, but others still have criticisms about him and his work. Like any famous creator, MrBeast has had his share of scandals, and his biggest controversies aren't going to be forgotten anytime soon.

MrBeast was still a teenager when his YouTube channel's popularity exploded and he suddenly became an internet star. At the time, he was mostly known for pulling off goofy stunts like counting to 100,000 in his bedroom, but some noticed a problematic trend in his content. MrBeast was prone to making homophobic jokes and using homophobic slurs in his videos and on social media. When The Atlantic reported on the issue in 2018 and reached out to MrBeast for a comment, he replied, "I'm not offensive toward anyone. I'm not offensive in the slightest bit in anything I do. I'm just going to ignore it. I don't think anyone cares about this stuff."

The content in his earlier videos is something that's followed MrBeast throughout his career. In 2024, old clips resurfaced showing MrBeast joking with his YouTube commenters about selling slaves. In response, MrBeast's team released a statement to Variety pointing out that he's repeatedly apologized for his past actions, stating, "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."

In October 2024, YouTuber Rosanna Pansino shared leaked messages from MrBeast's internal company chat that contained edgy and outright offensive jokes. While MrBeast currently avoids using offensive humor and language, and you won't see him repeating similar jokes in any of his current videos, because of his history and Pansino leaks, people have questions about his company's culture.

MrBeast has faced criticism from former employees about how he runs his company. In 2021, The New York Times spoke with several people who'd worked for him that alleged he created a hostile work environment. The employees said that they were regularly presented with unrealistic deadlines and constantly berated about their performance. One employee claimed that MrBeast refused to credit him for the work he did on various videos, and another posted a YouTube video called "My Experience Editing for Mr. Beast (Worst Week of My Life)" after leaving the company. They eventually removed the video, saying that they had received a slew of death threats and other harassing messages from MrBeast fans in response to it.

In the summer of 2024, former MrBeast employees came forward with disturbing allegations about the behavior they'd witnessed and experienced while working for the YouTuber. Former MrBeast employee Jake Weddle claimed that when he and another writer for the channel asked why they were getting paid different salaries for doing the same job, they were both fired. Weddle was later invited back to film a challenge video where his goal was to spend 30 days in solitary confinement. He told a harrowing story about his experience working on the video and claimed that he was denied any time to sleep without sounds and light in the room and ultimately had to quit the challenge early because of his declining physical and mental health. Weddle went on to release his own videos discussing his time with MrBeast and later said that MrBeast called him to apologize for what happened.

In July 2024, a former MrBeast employee going by the username DogPack404 uploaded a nearly hour-long video to YouTube titled "I Worked For MrBeast, He's a Fraud." DogPack made some big accusations against MrBeast and his company in the video, but one of his most attention-grabbing claims was that MrBeast rigged some of the games and competitions he'd hosted on his channel. DogPack alleged that some of MrBeast's giveaways might have even broken lottery laws because the terms weren't always clear, winners weren't always chosen at random, and some of the giveaways were targeted toward underage viewers. "MrBeast isn't just promoting gambling to children here," Dogpack said. "He's running the casino."

DogPack's claims spread quickly and got responses from many other internet personalities. Chucky Appleby, an active MrBeast team member, strongly refuted the claims that MrBeast fakes any of his giveaways, writing on X that "Jimmy spends unfathomable amounts of money and time to ensure the integrity of what he does and I hate to see it come into question with a bunch of lies."

MrBeast didn't respond directly to DogPack's video, but other YouTubers threw their opinions into the mix. LegalEagle noted that lottery and sweepstakes laws vary state to state, making compliance very complicated, but he also said that MrBeast's more recent giveaways seemed to be better managed than some of his earlier endeavors. Rosanna Pansino, on the other hand, has continued to pressure MrBeast, releasing multiple videos that investigate his company's activities.

Outside of YouTube, MrBeast is expanding his horizons by starting new businesses. He's made a particular effort to break into the food industry, but at every turn, he's run into new challenges.

In late 2020, MrBeast launched his BeastBurgers brand, which took a unique approach to fast food delivery. Rather than setting up restaurants, MrBeast relied on "ghost kitchens" in various cities to cook his brand's food. The results were wildly inconsistent, and many of MrBeast's customers reported getting food that was horribly overcooked or completely raw. The brand was such a mess that MrBeast ended up suing his business partners over the ordeal.

Fans had little to no complaints about MrBeast's chocolate bar brand, Feastables, but in 2023, some of them did take him to task when he made a post on X asking his fans to clean up the Feastables displays in their local grocery stores. The next year, fans had an even bigger problem with a MrBeast brand when he partnered with fellow YouTubers Logan Paul and KSI to create Lunchly. The brand sold pre-packaged Lunchables-style meals that included a bottle of Prime, Paul's drink brand, but some customers also found an unwelcome side dish: mold. Posts began making the rounds online, and multiple content creators like Rosanna Pansino on YouTube and @aSpicyCow on Twitch uploaded videos of moldy Lunchly meals.

One of the biggest controversies in MrBeast's career centered around his best friend and longtime business partner, Ava Tyson. MrBeast had been working with Tyson for as long as he'd been on YouTube, and fans had come to love the energy their friendship brought to MrBeast's videos. That made the disturbing allegations against Tyson that surfaced in the summer of 2024 all the harder for fans to deal with.

On June 13, 2024, a YouTuber called Prism32 uploaded a video containing screenshots of messages that were allegedly between Tyson and an underage fan. The messages weren't sexually explicit, but they did address topics like hentai, sending nudes, and inappropriate jokes. People began questioning why those topics were allowed in a Discord server with underage users, and some began to accuse Tyson of grooming the young fan. In response, the underage fan actually made a post on X that denied that they had been victimized, saying, "Ava never did anything wrong and just made a few edgy jokes."

On July 23, Tyson released a statement on X stating her intention to step away from MrBeast's company, saying, "I would like to apologize for any of my past behavior or comments if it hurt or offended anyone. It was not my intent." MrBeast himself made a post saying he was aware of the accusations and had hired a team to do an internal investigation. In November 2024, MrBeast posted the results of the investigation, which stated, "Allegations of sexual misconduct ... between Company employees and minors are without basis." Despite that determination, Tyson did not return to her job at MrBeast's company.

MrBeast has built his entire career on pulling off massive video productions and giving away incredible amounts of money. But even with all his previous experience, MrBeast wasn't fully prepared for the scale of his "Beast Games" show that streamed on Amazon's Prime Video. The series was one of the most labor-intensive reality shows of all time, and, like many other MrBeast ventures, "Beast Games" had a shady side.

The show's problems began in Las Vegas, where 2,000 potential contestants arrived for the first round of filming. The goal was to narrow that pool of contestants down to the 1,000 who would compete in the actual competition, which would be filmed in Toronto. Unfortunately, many of the contestants in Vegas did not have a good experience. Reports from people involved said the entire production was wildly disorganized, causing some contestants to be denied access to food, water, personal hygiene items, and even their own medicine while filming. At the same time, many of the competitions were intensely physical, leading to several contestants finding themselves hospitalized.

The series' actual shoot in Vancouver dealt with those issues, but it was plagued with other behind-the-scenes problems. MrBeast faced accusations that he tried to lower production costs by avoiding unions. YouTuber Rosanna Pansino claimed she exchanged messages with "Beast Game" crew members and said she was told, "Jimmy and his team specifically requested that 'Beast Games' be non-union." Some crew members also complained about the conditions on set, the hours they were required to work, and problems receiving their paychecks from the production. MrBeast has largely denied the issues, telling one interviewer, "I think in general, a lot of it has just been blown out of proportion."