Half a billion fans, a multi-million dollar personal fortune and a global business empire.
It would take a lot to dethrone YouTube’s biggest influencer Jimmy Donaldson, aka MrBeast.
But a 54-page court document could be his toughest test yet.
Five female contestants on upcoming Prime Video show Beast Games are launching legal action against his production company MrB2024 and Amazon in Los Angeles.
Billed as the largest ever reality competition series, 1,000 contestants are set to compete for a $5m (£3.7m) prize when the show airs – or if it airs. The lawsuit has plunged the show into crisis.
Among many redacted pages, the legal document includes allegations that they “particularly and collectively suffered” in an environment that “systematically fostered a culture of misogyny and sexism”.
It cuts to the core of MrBeast’s image as one of the nicest guys on the internet.
I flicked through the document, which includes suggestions that participants were “underfed and overtired”. Meals were provided “sporadically and sparsely” which “endangered the health and welfare” of the contestants, it is claimed.
In one section where almost all of the claims are redacted from public view, it says the defendants “created, permitted to exist, and fostered a culture and pattern and practice of sexual harassment including in the form of a hostile work environment”.
Back in August, the New York Times spoke to more than a dozen of the (yet unreleased) show’s participants, and reported there were “several hospitalisations” on the set, with one person telling the paper they had gone over 20 hours without being fed.
Contestants also alleged they had not received their medication on time.
The BBC has approached MrBeast and Amazon – he has not yet publicly commented.
So will these latest allegations hurt the king of YouTube’s popularity?
Rising fame and philanthropy
MrBeast is no stranger to controversy this year – and has managed to come out unscathed each time.
In July, the 26-year-old American said he had hired investigators after his former co-host Ava Kris Tyson was accused of grooming a teenager.
Ava denied the allegations, but has apologised for “past behaviour” which was “not acceptable”.
MrBeast said he was “disgusted” by the “serious allegations”.
Later, further allegations about business practices surfaced on an anonymous YouTube channel, claiming to be a former employee. The BBC has not been able to independently verify the claims or this person’s identity.
Some of his philanthropic efforts – such as building wells in Africa, and paying for surgery for people with reduced sight and hearing – have drawn criticisms around exploitation.
“Deaf people like me deserve better than MrBeast’s latest piece of inspiration porn,” one person told the Independent last year.
But his empire continues to grow. The day before the lawsuit emerged on Wednesday, he revealed a team-up with fellow famous faces KSI and Logan Paul – a new food line designed to challenge Lunchables.
And as I wrote in an article about his meteoric rise last year, he has made his millions through hard work.
His videos are big budget experiences, with his most popular – viewed 652 million times – recreating the Netflix hit Squid Game in real life with a $456,000 (£342,000) prize.
Most of his philanthropy is less controversial – including giving away houses, cash and cars – which has worked to create an image of him being one of the internet’s good guys.
According to his website, he has delivered more than 25 million meals to the needy around the world.
People continue to flock to his social channels. In June, he gained enough subscribers to make his YouTube channel the largest in the world.
According to stats-checker Socialblade, MrBeast picked up an extra five million subscribers in the last 30 days alone.
That’s just one metric – we can’t tell how many people unsubscribed from his channel, for example.
What is certain is that the number of people who’ve actively decided to stop watching his videos has been eclipsed by those who’ve decided to subscribe.
