Jimmy Donaldson — AKA “MrBeast” — has taken YouTube by storm, racking up more than 330 million subscribers with his cleverly edited videos of stunts ranging from performative philanthropy to Fear Factor-esque challenges. He’s also launched a burger chain, a chocolate and snack brand, and is currently working on a reality competition series with Amazon. At just 26 years old, MrBeast has built a brand valuated at $1.5 billion.
“Should we be outraged by his existence?,” asks Ryan Broderick, creator of the newsletter Garbage Day and host of the new podcast Panic World. In this episode, Ryan tells Ben and Amory all about the awkward past, the controversial present, and the uncertain future of MrBeast.
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. We will always build people up, then enjoy watching them be torn down. If it wasn’t this guy, it’d be some other schmuck. Whatever he’s doing, spending a moment worrying about Mr. Beast when we’ve got actual fucking fascists foaming at the mouth, poised to absolutely tear the American Democratic experiment asunder in 4 weeks, is beyond dissociative.
Who?
Didn’t this guy used to pay kids to twerk for his videos?