Pel Law, Mara Grace Phinney & Griffin O’Brien | GNP contributors
Jimmy Donaldson—aka MrBeast—is a man with an empire in trouble.
In late October, a team of crypto investigators posted an extensively documented blog on the website Loock.io that maps a nest of “50+ secret [crypto] wallets” linked to Donaldson. The post alleges “insider trading and questionable deals” by the YouTuber from Greenville.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The Greenville News Project has documented four lawsuits between 2022 and 2024 and several whistleblower YouTuber videos and business setbacks across Donaldson’s known companies, partnerships, and YouTube channels.
Most of the information for this story comes from public sources. GNP contacted Donaldson by X (formerly Twitter) and email but got no response. Attempts to contact over a dozen critics and other people affiliated with the MrBeast organization also were met with silence.
On Nov. 23, after a long silence, Donaldson denied allegations of a toxic work climate. He made the comments in a two and a half hour interview on the YouTube channel called Oompaville, which is run by Caleb Phelps.
After a rambling answer to a question from Phelps, Donaldson said he would “probably sue” whistleblower and former employee Dawson French, known on YouTube as Dogpack404.
The troubles and Donaldson's response may not be well-known in his hometown, but they’re viral on the internet and social media.
The Empire under fire
The troubles appear to have begun in June 2024. That’s when leaks began circulating the internet from X that alleged Ava Kris Tyson, a former friend and employee of Donaldson’s, was sending intimate messages to minors since 2017.
Tyson stepped down from their role at the core company and apologized, saying, they “decided it’s best I permanently step away from all things MrBeast.”
This and allegations by French prompted Donaldson to hire celebrity lawyer Alex Spiro of California to conduct a work climate audit of the MrBeast companies.
On Nov. 1 on X, Donaldson posted Spiro’s report on the MrBeast work climate. The report concluded that, “it is not uncommon that policies and practices essential in a mature environment would lag behind commercial success.”
According to an AP story on the same day, Donaldson has fired over “5 to 10 employees” since Spiro reported finding no evidence of a toxic work climate at the MrBeast company.
Spiro’s two-page report said the company hired a new chief of staff, chief people officer, and general counselor, and was soon to hire a chief financial officer. It said the company had adopted “mandatory corporate training” for employees, revised its employee handbook, set up an anonymous tip line for employees, and intends to “swiftly” fire rule-breaking employees.
Under the microscope
Donaldson’s name has stayed in online news with the recent crypto-currency accusations by Loock.io, MrBeast game contestants filing lawsuits, and his short-lived Lunchly meals that were found to contain mold.
In an Oct. 31 report, the technology news site Gizmodo summarized the Loock.io evidence as including “pictures of Donaldson partying with crypto entrepreneurs, big splashy public advertisements of him announcing his association with various crypto schemes, and screenshots of tweets, text messages, and DMs that show Donaldson interacting with crypto folks.”
GNP contacted the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to ask if it was looking into the Loock.io allegations against Donaldson’s crypto-currency activities. Spokesperson David Ausello replied, “The SEC does not comment on the existence or nonexistence of a possible investigation.”
This August the Associated Press reported on complaints by contestants in Donald’s Amazon Prime reality show “Beast Games.” A month later five unnamed contestants filed a joint lawsuit against him, claiming an unsafe work environment and failure to provide minimum wages, overtime pay, uninterrupted meal breaks, and rest time for competitors.
The lawsuit is 54 pages long and heavily redacted. The AP reported that “an unorganized set had left some contestants injured and lacking regular access to food and medication. Other participants have told AP they received two light meals each day and MrBeast-branded chocolate bars.”
These controversies haven’t gone unnoticed by former freelancer employees of MrBeast.
James Luke was one of them, and he worked with Donaldson on the MrBeast remake of Squid Games. He said he signed a non-disclosure agreement and drove to Greenville from Athens, Georgia, to work for 14 days straight, 10 hours each day “at least.”
GNP interviewed Luke by Instagram direct messaging.
Although he worked directly under Donaldson and the SoKrispyMedia visual effects team, Luke said he only saw the YouTube star for two minutes. He said the team completed over 370 visual effects, “more effects than the Matrix.”
Luke said he would not work directly with Donaldson until the far future. “It’d have to be a couple of years,” he said. “ I’d have to know and hear from people if the working culture there has changed and improved.”
This September, Donaldson launched Lunchly, a knockoff of the Lunchables meal kit from Kraft Heinz, with fellow content creators Logan Paul and JJ Olatunji, better known as KSI. It fell into controversy after influencer and MrBeast critic Rosanna Pansino posted a video of her unboxing a Lunchly with moldy cheese.
TikTok’s soon followed, showing Lunchly kits with the same moldy cheese issue. TMZ reported at as of its Oct. 25 story, the FDA had gotten 10 complaints about Lunchly.
‘All publicity is good’
“These types of accusations would have crushed a company if they had happened a few years ago,” said Amy Coward, director of Strategic Communications at the University of South Carolina.
Now, “we have leaders in business and politics who are getting away with amazing sickening things,” she said. “MrBeast has a strong following and could likely continue with their support.”
SocialBlade reports that MrBeast’s subscriber count continues to grow at a staggering pace. His YouTube channel, which has over 200 million subscribers, has experienced a consistent uptick in new subscribers, with SocialBlade citing an increase of 5-10 million subscribers in just a few months.
“When it becomes a freak show, it can draw more people in. The age-old adage of all publicity is good publicity,” said Jon Kirchoff, an associate professor of Supply Chain Management at ECU.
Containing the damage
In a mid-November post to her YouTube channel Spill Sesh, Kristi Cook said “MrBeast messaged me … major damage control exposed.” She said Donaldson has been contacting creators to promote a video by a Youtuber “Soggy Cereal” that debunks claims made by French, the former MrBeast employee.
Fandom’s Wikitubia identifies Soggy Cereal as “a Belgian … known for his videos about various content creators.”
Donaldson seems to be using de-escalation methods and conventional means of addressing the issues, said Wesley Stevens, a teacher and researcher at the University of South Carolina with expertise in influencers and creative economies.
“Like many other influencers, [he] has sometimes resorted to humor and flippant commentary to downplay or decenter the situation,” Stevens said. “Sometimes, it’s meant to create shock and draw more attention.”
In a time where social media has a hand in who is well-liked and who kicks the can, Stevens said that controversies are a trend themselves.
“Our attention collectively shifts and splits to other news as new stories, trends, and controversies emerge in the days and weeks following a scandal,” she said. “A personalized feed can be a weapon itself.”
As for East Carolina University, despite all the controversies swirling around Donaldson, it is still invested in its 2022 agreement with him to develop a Creator Workforce Education Program.
“The university’s collaboration with MrBeast has focused on building an educational credentialing workforce program for the creator industry,” said Jeannine Hutson, the director of University Communications. “Questions about the day-to-day operations of MrBeast should be directed to its offices.”
Law, Phinney and O’Brien produced this story for the Fall 2024 course In-depth Reporting Capstone at the School of Communication, East Carolina University.
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