The MrBeast brand and its creator Jimmy Donaldson have been in the news all summer, with outrage coming from several angles. Donaldson, who runs the most-subscribed channel on YouTube, has remained under fire for past allegations about his channel and his massive reality TV partnership with Amazon, but the conversation has been complicated by a new lunch box aimed at kids.
In August, media reported about the film adaptation of Beast games, a huge game show in production with Amazon, which was taking place in Las Vegas at the time. Some of the contestants told local news and entertainment channel Vital Vegas that they were not fed properly, had no access to their medicines and that the games were not supervised.
Content creator Rosanna Pansino later shared statements from participants where they claim to have sustained injuries during the games, from hazards such as falling through a trap door or being tackled by another competitor. Five participants filed a lawsuit on September 18 against Donaldson and the Beast Games production companies, citing “dangerous conditions and circumstances.”
If production on Beast Games moved from Las Vegas to Toronto in August and in September, more employees, crew and participants came forward with allegations. According to a report from Rolling StoneCrew members were not paid consistently, were not fed during 16-hour shifts, and production continued even when there was flooding and electronic equipment was submerged.
The Beast Games controversy has arisen from unrelated claims about the MrBeast workplace. A former employee, who used the name Dogpack404, released a series of videos claiming that the MrBeast corporation organized illegal lotteries, exploited the channel’s audience of mostly children, and knowingly employed a sex offender. The Dogpack404 videos include testimony from Jake Weddle, another former employee of the MrBeast company.
Weddle spoke about participating in an unpublished MrBeast challenge, in which he sought to spend 100 days in solitary confinement. Weddle said the conditions of the challenge were detrimental to his mental health, including lights that were on constantly, an ice machine and hot tub that began to smell after days, and the fact that he was forced to complete smaller — but still demanding — challenges, such as running a barefoot marathon on a treadmill while in isolation.
According to Weddle, after the Dogpack404 video making these allegations went online, Donaldson offered him the remainder of the original isolation challenge prize pool, approximately $190,000. Weddle accepted $50,000 to help pay off some of his medical debts.
The MrBeast brand has continued to grow despite the allegations, with Donaldson launching a new lunch box product featuring Logan Paul and Olajide “KSI” Olatunji. On September 16, the content creators have announced Lunchlya competitor to Lunchables, which also includes the Donaldson’s Feastables chocolate bar and the popular sports drink Prime, promoted by Paul and KSI.
Lunch was roasted on social media Through skepticswho criticized the marketing And nutritional value of the lunch kit. Prominent YouTuber, DanTDM, posted on X about his personal discomfort with Lunchly, writing, “This is selling crap to kids who don’t know any better than to trust the people selling it to them.”
While co-founders Paul and Olatunji pro-inflammatory in their answer In response to the criticism, Donaldson posted a measured response to the nutritional concerns on X, writing: “Clearly eating fresh chicken and broccoli is healthier, but if someone is going to eat a ready-made meal like this (which millions of people do, via Lunchables), then I think giving them a higher quality version for about the same price is a net good in my opinion, and that’s why we launched Lunchly.”
Polygon has reached out to Donaldson for comment, but did not receive a response in time for publication.