MrBeast, a kid-centric YouTube content creator, is under fire for his friend and YouTube colleague’s association with child porn, transgender ideology, and grooming — with troubling images on social media dating back more than six years.
Jimmy Donaldson, the face of the MrBeast brand, has long defended his friend’s gender dysphoria, despite Donaldson’s influence on children via his YouTube channel. Before any allegations of child grooming and connections to child abuse imagery, in April 2023 employee and friend of MrBeast Chris Tyson announced on X that he was “gender non-conforming” and on “hormone replacement therapy.” He changed his name to Kris, came out as bisexual, and separated from his wife Katie, with whom he has a child.
While Tyson’s changing appearance had been apparent onscreen for months, Donaldson rejected concerns among parents and viewers that the MrBeast brand was promoting transgender ideology without parental knowledge or consent. As the backlash grew, Donaldson stood firmly with Tyson, commenting on X, “Yeah, this is getting absurd. Chris isn’t my ‘nightmare’ he’s my f-ck-n friend and things are fine. All this transphobia is starting to piss me off.”
Donaldson runs the most-subscribed channel on YouTube with his main channel, MrBeast, capturing 307 million subscribers. He gets millions more viewers on spin-off channels. When MrBeast uploads a new video — which usually consists of dumb but entertaining over-the-top pranks and stunts — it averages 150 million views.
MrBeast has spawned a new genre of YouTube content with multiple copycat channels mimicking his style. Donaldson has expanded his empire to
