Tragic Details About MrBeast

With a name like "MrBeast," you might assume that YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson is a professional esports combatant. However, the man actually made a name for himself with ludicrously extravagant and philanthropic videos where he does everything from sitting in slime to giving random strangers thousands of dollars. He even once handed an entire house, fully furnished and mortgage-free, to a pizza delivery guy as a tip.

With all the good MrBeast does, it's only natural to presume that reality would pay it forward. Well, you know what they say: no good deed goes unpunished. Turns out MrBeast's life isn't as rosy as he likely deserves, as he's had his share of raw deals. Sometimes, MrBeast has suffered the cruel sting of bad luck, and other times he has been the victim of his own success. MrBeast has even stared death in the face once or twice and lived to tell the tale.

While not all misfortunes to befall MrBeast are equal, it's almost a miracle he can stay in high spirits and post videos with the regularity he does. After reading this article, you might discover some newfound respect for the arguable king of the altruistic YouTube video.

Statistically speaking, virtually everyone either has been or knows someone who has been in a traffic accident — or narrowly avoided one. Car safety is serious business because all it takes is one distracted driver to crumple 10,000 pounds of rubber and steel around fragile human bodies at over 100 mph. That's why you aren't supposed to drive while drunk or tired, but what happens when someone drives while under the effects of an undiagnosed medical condition? MrBeast knows that horror all too well.

During an episode of Logan Paul's Impaulsive podcast, MrBeast recalled a harrowing drive after he and his crew wrapped up a shoot. They had traveled eight hours to the site and were driving back when the guy behind the wheel (MrBeast didn't name names) suddenly asked to pull over into a gas station because he "didn't feel too good." He didn't even make it that far because the next second, he seemingly fell asleep at the wheel. MrBeast did what he could to keep the car steady, slow it down, and wake up the driver, which is easier said than done on a busy highway.

While MrBeast managed to park the car on the shoulder and save its passengers from a potentially untimely death, he later learned that his friend didn't pass out but instead momentarily died during the event. Turns out they have a rare condition that makes their heart stop and then start up again, which means for those several tense seconds, a corpse was behind the wheel. Of course, MrBeast's friend now has a pacemaker to prevent future problems, but nobody knew he even had the affliction until after it almost killed them.

MrBeast is estimated to be worth anywhere between $8 million and $16 million, but he is best known for pulling off expensively altruistic stunts, such as giving one lucky cat burglar a $100,000 diamond. You probably wonder how his giveaway videos help pull in enough money to keep his head financially above water, and the short answer is they don't. But, that doesn't necessarily mean MrBeast will file for bankruptcy anytime soon.

Early in 2021, MrBeast admitted via Twitter that his videos cost him "a ridiculous amount of money." He didn't say how much, but he implied that if he solely relied on his primary channel, he would be hopelessly in the red. That's why he started his gaming and reaction channels — he wants his eccentric giveaways to operate at a loss and to fund them with proceeds from other ventures. MrBeast also hopes to use the clout gained from his philanthropy to open food and homeless shelters.

Granted, while MrBeast doesn't see much gain from his main videos, they still provide some revenue. He also profits from his merchandising deals and sponsors, but he kind of needs to publish videos to see any returns. For instance, at the tail end of 2020, MrBeast had to scrap a massive three-part series. The trilogy of videos cost an estimated $800,000 he will never get back, which not only gives a decent peek into the money MrBeast funnels into his work but also the reality of YouTube: profit, much like publishing, is not guaranteed.

Stories of celebrities who found success while fighting the challenges of a disability or disease have become common. Many YouTubers have discussed their ADD or depression, but not all problems that plague celebrities are psychological. It's surprisingly common to find celebrities with a physical disease that can leave them in severe pain if left unchecked. MrBeast is one of these people.

MrBeast suffers from Crohn's disease. For those who have never heard of it, Crohn's is an inflammatory bowel disease that can cause a host of digestive issues. While MrBeast can mitigate the stomach pain with a heavily regulated and unfortunately repetitive diet, he can't do much about the fatigue. But, MrBeast also has to deal with the mental aspect of Crohn's as it negatively impacts his socializing — whenever his friends go out to eat, he has to pack his own food if he wants to prevent a severe stomach ache. While his friends get to dine on fine pizzas and chow mein, he has to make do with homemade PB&J.

Moreover, as most people with the disease will tell you, dealing with Crohn's isn't as simple as making sure you don't eat anything that upsets your stomach. Like many people with this condition, MrBeast needs to regularly take Remicade, which requires a four-hour stay at a hospital every five weeks.

If you only recently heard of MrBeast, you probably learned about him because of his "Squid Game" video, which included all the cash prizes of the source material's contests with none of the death. The competition is currently the most popular video on MrBeast's channel, but not everyone was happy when the competition went viral.

After MrBeast posted his video, disapproval came pouring in. Critics around the internet claimed that MrBeast completely missed the point and themes of the show, that it was tone-deaf for him to spend millions to create a video based around an anti-capitalist parable. Some even went so far as to claim MrBeast plagiarized "Squid Game" and wondered if the show's creator, Hwang Dong-hyuk, would have an aneurysm if he ever found out about MrBeast and his video. Cue poetic irony.

While MrBeast has many detractors because of his happy-go-lucky take on "Squid Game," one of his few supporters is, hilariously enough, Hwang Dong-hyuk himself. During the 2021 Gotham Awards, ET Canada asked the director a few questions, including his thoughts on YouTubers who created their own "Squid Games." MrBeast wasn't named, but the query was likely about him. Dong-hyuk just laughed and said that he watched some of the videos and "loved it," which is as good an endorsement as any. Plus, MrBeasts' and the other fan-made "Squid Game[s]" helped promote his show, so if anything, Dong-hyuk probably wants more deathless Squid Games, not fewer.

Is it ironic that fans of "Squid Game" are kicking up more drama over MrBeast than the show's creator, or like the show itself, does it hold a mirror up to society?

MrBeast literally eats, breathes, and sleeps new concepts for videos, or at least he did at one time, and it seriously had an impact on his health. During an interview with YouTubers Colin and Samir, MrBeast revealed a lot about his early career's work schedule. He asked Colin and Samir to envision how much a content creator could get done if they worked 12 hours a day, every day, for a year. According to MrBeast, that was nothing compared to the work he got done with his team, probably because they all worked 12 hours a day. MrBeast claims that during that period of his life, he ordered out for food just so he wouldn't have to stop working for lunch or dinner, and he even once skyped 18 hours straight. He had an unhealthy lifestyle, and he acknowledges this.

Working 12 hours a day sounds like a huge chore, even if it is for your passion, and most people might look for shortcuts to streamline the process. MrBeast did too. He told Colin and Samir that he once tried to train his brain to come up with ideas in his sleep. He wanted to go to bed, brainstorm while slumbering, wake up, and jot down what he literally dreamed up. That plan didn't pan out...sorta. He managed to invent new concepts for content while sleeping, but not because of any lucid dreams. Instead, MrBeast claims that he obsessed over new ideas so much while awake that his dreams brainstormed for him without any input from his conscious mind. It was the personification of a task failing successfully.

In 2019, MrBeast admitted on Twitter that he dropped out of college, which left fans with a lot of questions. Did he flunk out or bail on his chosen major? Fast forward to his interview with Colin and Samir, and MrBeast revealed the full story.

Before MrBeast went to college, he fell in love with YouTube and decided to turn the site into his career — a cliched story, but that's what happened. His mother didn't think YouTube would pan out, so she gave him an ultimatum: go to college or move out. It might sound harsh, but she wanted what was best for him. So, MrBeast did what many people would do and went to a community college...for about two weeks. He couldn't stand the classes, but he didn't have it in him to break his mother's heart. So, MrBeast kept up appearances by driving to college every day, but instead of going to classes, he spent his hours working on videos on his computer while parked on campus.

Eventually, MrBeast made enough money from his videos to move out, so he broke the news to his mother and, keeping true to his promise, moved out the next day. His mother was initially devastated, but she eventually came around. At the very least, MrBeast gave higher education the old college try. He failed, but he failed on his own terms and turned it into success.

YouTube is a monolithic site. An estimated 500 hours worth of content is uploaded every minute, so it is literally impossible to see everything the platform has to offer within one lifetime. To maximize the odds of viewers watching their videos, many content creators try to stand out with eye-catching and hyperbolic thumbnails. Many people make fun of these overblown images, but MrBeast went one step further and tried to recreate the impossible feats depicted in one series of memeable thumbnails. Unfortunately, he succeeded.

In one of the few non-charity videos on MrBeast's main channel, he tried to see if he could damage anything, including himself, with a run-of-the-mill fidget spinner. He tried slicing open his cheek and neck with the toy, and he also tried to knock out a tooth with it, but the gadget failed to even scratch him.

Later, MrBeast moved on to inanimate objects. He tried to destroy everything from wine glasses to giant college textbooks, but only a flimsy lightbulb cracked under the fidget spinner. MrBeast even tried shattering a Coke bottle with the spinner, which ended exactly how you expect. For some reason, MrBeast really wanted to destroy some Coke, so he tapped two bottles together. Surprisingly, they shattered with enough force to slice his cheek. While the cut didn't hurt, judging by his reaction, MrBeast still needed stitches to close the wound.

Let MrBeast serve as a warning: don't mess around with Coke bottles. Sprite bottles probably aren't safe, either.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but plagiarism is a different matter. Whenever a YouTuber achieves fame, wannabes copy their schtick in the hopes of stealing some thunder. The Irate Gamer, for instance, is typically regarded as an Angry Video Game Nerd clone — and even MrBeast has a copycat. But while the Irate Gamer and AVGN have teamed up to bury the hatchet, the same can't be said of MrBeast and his content doppelgänger.

Over the last few years, fans have noted that YouTuber Morgz seems to mimic MrBeast to a suspicious degree. Creators such as SwanMaster, TheAsherShow, and Chandler Hallow have chronicled Morgz lifting MrBeast's challenges wholesale, right down to video titles. Although to be fair, Morgz doesn't copy MrBeast 100% — he tends to fake many videos while MrBeast doesn't — but those semantics haven't saved Morgz from MrBeast's reluctant ire.

According to Dexerto, MrBeast had no idea Morgz existed until Chandler told him. MrBeast was initially ambivalent towards Morgz because even his own work isn't fully original, but that mood eventually soured. MrBeast didn't take long to joke that his brother "isn't an actual youtuber until Morgz copies one of his videos." Morgz struck back with claims that MrBeast copied him, which MrBeast shot down. MrBeast also admitted that he never wanted to "hop on the f**k morgz train," and MrBeast apparently hopped right off after his response. MrBeast has seemingly ignored Morgz ever since, including when he admitted that he copies MrBeast's work.

When Morgz started out, MrBeast paid him no mind, and despite some temporary bad blood and frustration, MrBeast has swung back to that initial state.

Like many YouTubers, MrBeast is only the face and brains of the operation. He needs a team of friends and employees to help carry out his crazy ideas and pare down the videos for YouTube. Several teammates, such as Jake Weddle and Jake Franklin, have left to pursue their own paths, but many more have stuck with him — regardless of what some rumors claim.

In 2021, gossip ran wild that one member of the MrBeast crew, Karl Jacobs, was in hot water with MrBeast himself. These rumors, which originated from the TikTok account "evkoe," carpet bombed Jacobs and MrBeast in various accusations. According to evkoe's video clips, Jacobs made fun of MrBeast's Crohn's disease, while MrBeast viewed him as "a leech." These snippets led to a tidal wave of rumors that Jacobs had been fired and "ruined MrBeast." Thankfully, none of these were true, but they did cause a bit of drama for the MrBeast camp.

Shortly after the rumors started sprouting, Anthony Padilla interviewed Jacobs. During their conversation, Jacobs admitted that the YouTuber can be polarizing, but he also affirmed an ongoing friendship with MrBeast. In fact, according to Jacobs, the gossip gave them a good laugh. 

But what about MrBeast's side of things? Fans might not need to know, since many viewers who watched evkoe's original videos accused them of trying to stir the drama pot with misleading material. Many commenters identified the clips as coming from a video where MrBeast verbally whipped an ex-editor, not Jacobs. And of course, PewDiePie chimed in to chastise everyone who fell for the hearsay. Remember to always take Youtuber drama with a pinch of salt.

If you have an email inbox, you are probably familiar with the classic "Nigerian Letter" scam: A purportedly wealthy man is trying to transfer a literal king's ransom out of his country, and if you help him, he will give you a "small" cut of his fortune. All you have to do is give him your bank account numbers. Most people see through this obvious ruse — because who in their right mind would trust someone they've never met with sensitive information? Unfortunately, scammers know this and have adapted to specifically trick would-be marks, including fans of MrBeast.

Virtually anyone who has heard of MrBeast knows about his philanthropic tendencies. People who meet him usually walk away with their face in a YouTube video and a few thousand dollars in their pockets, and scammers are using this to their advantage. Many viewers have encountered "ads" or other media that feature MrBeast and promise hundreds of dollars in rewards for solving a simple test, visiting a page...and sharing their bank account numbers. Yep, it's the Nigerian Letter scam all over again, only this time it wears MrBeast's face like a mask.

Of course, these "MrBeast scams" are rife with warning signs, such as poor grammar and the aforementioned bank info form, but some people fall for it because they are blinded by the real MrBeast's philanthropy. More than a few fans have lost money to this scam, and MrBeast posted a PSA on Facebook about the potential danger, clearly distraught by the whole thing.

Since anyone can claim they are anyone on the internet, caution may be all that prevents you from being suckered in by con artists, even if they claim they're MrBeast.