A contestant in MrBeast’s ages 1 – 100 challenge video is sparking outrage after his decision caused an 11-year-old participant to cry.
YouTube star Jimmy ‘MrBeast’ Donaldson is known for his over-the-top challenge videos, the latest of which has garnered a significant amount of backlash against one particular contestant.
The video, uploaded on April 20, pitted 100 individuals aged one to 100 against each other for a $250,000 cash prize — not an unusual project for MrBeast, who’s done similar challenge videos in the past.
However, a 42-year-old contestant in the video is now being dubbed a “cartoon villain” for the way viewers say he “manipulated” another participant into eliminating an eleven-year-old girl.
The premise of MrBeast’s Squid Game-esque video tasked the 100 contestants to decide among themselves who should be eliminated. The creator offered up thousands of dollars in cash to convince people to leave the game and even threatened to eliminate large groups of participants if they couldn’t convince others to quit.
The game stoked some intense emotions and conversations among the challengers, one of whom argued that “anyone over retirement age” or children should see themselves out.
The real kicker began after contestant 42, a team captain, advised fellow contestant 43 to eliminate a number of other participants that were randomly selected by spinning a wheel. 43 could choose whether to eliminate them or let them stay… and 42 wasn’t about to let his chance of getting $250K slip away.
“If you let her stay, she gets control,” he told 43 in a low, sing-song voice with a fiendish grin — something that viewers couldn’t help but feel painted him in a villainous light.
Things heated up even more when 43 had the chance to eliminate an eleven-year-old girl, who ended up sobbing after 42 convinced his teammate to kick her out.
“You are a kind person,” the youngster pleaded. “And you are kind enough to not eliminate me.”
42 had different plans, though. “Don’t do it. Now is not the time to develop a heart,” he said, ultimately convincing his teammate to eliminate her from the competition. “I’m so proud of you,” he told 43.
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His advice to 43 made him a seriously unpopular contestant among his peers, with number 62 even calling him a “villain” before she was booted out of the game.
Despite his wiley ways, 42 was eventually eliminated by contestant number 58. The older contestant stepped out of his cubicle at the “last second,” sacrificing himself and barely preventing 42 from winning $250,000 in a challenge where, if only one participant left their quarters, they’d win the cash — but not if someone else also stepped out.
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“I made my voice very loud and clear and you knew what was gonna happen, so you basically said, ‘Money,'” 42 told his opponent. “I don’t like you.”
Viewers didn’t seem to like contestant 42, either, with many labeling him a “supervillain.”
“42 was an actual villain,” one viewer wrote. “Bro was evil! ‘Now is not the time to develop a heart’ is literally such a supervillain quote.”
“42 proved himself to be a man of no moral standards [who was] willing to sell his integrity for $250,000,” another said. “58 clearly knew what he did there.”
“Number 42 is the greatest villain who’s participated in a MrBeast video ever,” another commented. “He got into number 43’s head and made her eliminate HEAPS of them. Old mate must’ve been planning this out lmao.”
Later, number 42 went live on TikTok to discuss the situation, where he admitted that he had some “hard feelings” toward number 58.
“I was upset,” he said. “I was very upset. What really sucked was how arrogant, how pompous he acted.”
In fact, 42 claimed that the two were placed on the same shuttle to go back to their hotel after getting eliminated, where he told his opponent that he had “no intention of being f*cking friendly with you at all.”
“You just f*cked me out of a quarter million dollars, so no, I’m not gonna be your chatty partner.”
42 revealed that he’s a dad to four kids and works an “everyday, normal job,” claiming that he, like many other contestants in the video, could have used the cash.
After his live, some commenters are expressing sympathy with his strategy to get the $250K — but many others are still upset with him for his behavior during the game.
Contestant number 47 ended up taking home the quarter-million dollars in the end, with MrBeast’s video garnering over 76 million views in just three days as more commenters pour in with their take on 42’s viral antics.
Number 42 is just the latest contestant from a MrBeast video to go viral after #67 from the YouTuber’s famous Squid Game recreation took over social media in 2021.