New MrBeast Challenge: 1000 Days Without Comment
YouTube’s golden boy is crashing and burning - and for some strange reason, he’s doing it without saying a word.
In the wake of mounting lawsuits and allegations of gross misconduct, YouTube icon Jimmy Donaldson, best known as Mr. Beast, is staying silent.
Donaldson, whose channel focuses on survival challenges and give away style charity content, has over 300 million subscribers and is the most popular channel on YouTube today.
However, despite his follower count, Donaldson’s views have steadily declined in the wake of his controversy. In the last month, he has failed to crack 200 million views for even a single video.
Strangely, Mr. Beast is staying quiet - and from a crisis communications standpoint, it might just be killing him.
THE BEGINNING OF THE END
Allegations against the Youtuber began to surface in July on the heels of the Ava Kris Tyson controversy, when a series of videos from Dawson French, better known by his YouTube handle DogPack404, began to garner attention.
French, who briefly worked for Mr. Beast, not only made claims of fraudulent behavior such as faking videos and rigging giveaways, but he also revealed several verified instances of gross misconduct within Team Beast.
However, few allegations were as serious or as damning as the claims made by former Mr. Beast writer Jake Weddle.
Weddle, who was working for Team Beast as a freelancer at the time, was put through a solitary confinement challenge that never aired.
“It didn’t come out because it didn’t go well,” Weddle said in an interview with French.
During his shoot, Weddle was subjected to 24/7 lighting and experienced prolonged sleep deprivation for the sake of YouTube content.
“They weren’t turning the lights off,” he explained. “I asked them, “Can we have nighttime hours?” They said no because it would fuck up the time lapse shots.”
Sleep deprivation is consistently regarded by legal authorities as a form of torture. It is also banned by the Geneva convention.
“Jimmy would come in every other day for like, an hour… Y’know, ‘cause he’s doing other stuff,” Weddle said.
Ultimately, after being subjected to extensive sleep deprivation and performing in Donaldson’s numerous challenges, which included running a marathon despite his own dwindling physical condition, Weddle gave up on the challenge.
He expressed that he wanted it to stop sooner, but due to pressure from Donaldson and Team Beast, he was unable to stop until he sustained injuries.
ENTER: BEAST GAMES
In September, word of a class action lawsuit from Beast Games contestants was announced.
The heavily redacted class action complaint alleged sexual harassment, negligence and a culture of misogyny that resulted in unsafe conditions for female contestants.
Among the 52-page complaint, contestants allege that they were deprived of sleep and denied access to food, water and medical care.
This lawsuit comes in the wake of numerous news stories and viral social media posts describing the horrific conditions on the set of the upcoming Amazon series.
THE RESPONSE
Although allegations against Donaldson and his team continue to multiply, the Youtuber has remained curiously quiet.
Instead, here’s what he’s done:
Donaldson privately apologized to Jake Weddle for the abuse he suffered and offered to pay him the remaining funds he was owed.
An internal memo from Team Beast states that they have plans to hire on new roles such as a chief human resources officer and a chief financial officer. The same memo also states that they will implement sensitivity training within the company.
Prior to the lawsuit’s filing, Donaldson’s team had blamed the horrific conditions reported on the set of Beast Games on the Crowd Strike outage
Needless to say, it hasn’t been enough.
THE PROBLEM WITH SILENCE
There can be value in silence. There are times when the best thing a PR professional can do is tell their client to keep their head down and not add more fuel to the fire.
However, sometimes, the most damning thing a person can do is stay quiet and continue business as usual.
Not releasing a statement has allowed others to shape the narrative around Jimmy Donaldson and the brand that he’s built. His silence has enabled the erosion of his audience’s trust, whittling away at his casual supporters and reducing viewership overall.
Even worse, his silence, paired alongside his continued video releases and product launches, have created an insensitive, untrustworthy image that invites scrutiny.
For example, in the wake of the allegations, his newest launch - a healthy Lunchables alternative - reads as desperate pandering to children, rather than as an intentional brand choice that is likely spent years in the making. Likewise, his most recent video content comes off as callus and cold, forcing the viewers to wonder who might’ve been hurt in its creation.
Ultimately, by staying quiet, Donaldson has seemingly uprooted any notion of authenticity his brand held.