A former MrBeast employee opened up about his experience working with the YouTube star, saying the creator’s “invincible” mindset is causing him big problems down the line.
Jimmy ‘MrBeast’ Donaldson is the owner of the most-subscribed channel on YouTube, known for his high-stakes challenges, generous cash giveaways, and over-the-top viral videos.
However, his empire is facing roadblock after roadblock following a series of scandals and controversies that cropped up in 2024 — starting with accusations toward his former collaborator, Ava Kris Tyson.
Since then, Donaldson has been hit with multiple lawsuits and accusations of “inhumane” work conditions on the set of his $100M Amazon show, “Beast Games,” which aims to be the biggest game show in history.
Former MrBeast employee Trey Yates says that Donaldson’s unstoppable attitude toward doing the impossible with every video is partly to blame for the recent backlash against him, as told in an October 9 interview with Polygon.
“For years, Jimmy felt like he was invincible,” Yates told the outlet. “What we’re seeing now is the repercussions of him thinking that way. In his YouTube bubble, he could get away with that as his target audience was children… If he wants to continue to scale up, he can’t just say and do ‘whatever the f*ck we want’ anymore.”
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It’s worth noting that this mindset is a part of MrBeast’s business model, as told in a leaked PDF document that acted as a “brain dump” for his ideas.
Notably, MrBeast created a section called “No Does Not Mean No,” where he outlined expectations for dealing with clients’ responses to tall orders.
“When dealing with people outside MrBeast Productions, never take a No at face value,” he wrote. “If we need a store to buy everything inside of and you call the local Dollar Tree and the person that answers says, ‘No, you can’t film here,’ that literally doesn’t mean sh*t.”
Yates says he was fired from MrBeast’s company after arguing against requests to work longer hours, something he decided to do after missing the birth of a relative. Now he and other former employees are speaking out against the YouTuber, such as fellow creator DogPack, who went viral for his multiple video exposes about the influencer.
Thus far, Donaldson has yet to officially address the ongoing backlash against himself and his brand, outside of defending his latest product, Lunchly, and publicly distancing himself from Ava Kris Tyson earlier this year.