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YouTuber MrBeast is known for his outlandish and over-the-top stunts. He’s built up a reputation as one of the most “philanthropic” YouTubers out there too, surprising random strangers with wads of cash and creating all sorts of crazy games with massive prizes.
But not too long ago, MrBeast became the subject of scrutiny over some not-so-subtle “hints” about his sexuality and unsavory comments he’s made in the past about LGBTQ people. Find out whether these “hints” are just another ploy at click-baiting viewers or clues into something more.
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Who Is MrBeast?
Jimmy Donaldson, a.k.a. MrBeast, is a 24-year-old YouTuber from North Carolina. With 95.7 million followers and videos amassing an average of 50 million views, MrBeast is perhaps the highest-paid and most popular YouTuber in the world.
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Donaldson rose to fame by essentially creating an entirely new genre on YouTube that involved highly expensive stunts and extreme challenges. He frequently rewards challenge participants with thousands of dollars to do stunts like eating ghost peppers or challenging themselves to keep their hands on a house for as long as possible. He also challenges himself to do crazy stunts, like eating the “world’s largest slice of pizza”.
One of his most popular videos involved a replica of Netflix’s Squid Game – sans the violence – where he awarded the winner a whopping $456,000.
Aside from the inane challenge videos, Donaldson also produces a lot of “do-good content”, as Rolling Stone magazine called it, where he hands stacks of cash to homeless people or tips waitresses massively for serving him water. The YouTuber even has a separate channel dedicated to philanthropy where all the revenue goes straight to a mobile food donations operation.
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Is MrBeast Gay?
The short answer is no, and he’s made that clear on Twitter before. But why do people continue to ask if MrBeast is bisexual or gay?
At the time when Donaldson was just finding his voice as a YouTuber and figuring out how to go viral, he would often joke in his videos and on Twitter about the possibility that he might be gay. In one video titled “Giving $10,000 To Comments On This Video”, Donaldson wore a shirt bearing the words, “I’m not gay, but $20 is $20.” Another video shows Donaldson standing in front of a Post-it note with an arrow pointing toward him and one word: “gay”.
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Homophobic And Transphobic Controversy
While some fans interpreted these antics as “hints” about his sexuality, critics viewed them as unsuccessful attempts at offensive humor that teen boys use to appear cool and edgy. And outside of these jokes, Donaldson has unfortunately had a history of using anti-gay slurs online as well.
On Twitter, he’d call things that frustrated him “gay” and used the slur “f*g” in an attempt to diss other users. “STFU f*g”, he replied to one user. He also poked fun at transgender people in a since-deleted video that was originally posted in 2016. “Is someone just sitting there and getting paid to think of genders?” he said in the video, even joking that he sexually identified as an attack helicopter and a tank – echoing far-right memes that littered 4chan boards at the time.
When pressed for comment by The Atlantic, Donaldson said, “I’m not offensive toward anyone. I’m not offensive in the slightest bit in anything I do. I’m just going to ignore it. I don’t think anyone cares about this stuff.” He then asked the publication to run a more positive article on him.
When the editors told him that this could not be done, he requested to answer interview questions over email instead and cut the call short. Moments later, Donaldson scrubbed his Twitter account of any tweets containing the word “f*g”.
So, perhaps the question shouldn’t be, “Is MrBeast gay?” or “What is MrBeast’s sexuality?” but rather, “Is MrBeast homophobic?”
In a more recent feature by Rolling Stone magazine, Donaldson seemed remorseful about his past statements, blaming his surroundings for his way of thinking. “This is literally the heart of the Bible Belt,” he said. “As I grew up, I realized, ‘Oh, this isn’t normal. This is just a weird place I grew up in.’ So, that type of thing, I [wish I could] go back in time and be like, ‘Hey, stop.’”
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The Bottom Line
Whether or not Donaldson is gay doesn’t seem to be up for debate anymore at this point. But only time will tell if the YouTuber will continue to have a more empathetic attitude towards the LGBTQ community.
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Jim
Sadly these influencers (and many others) don’t realize how few people are really aware of them.
DarkZephyr
I’d imagine it has something to do with the huge amounts of money many of them are making.
johncp56
jack ass stunts have been done far too much,
greekboy
My dyslexic brain read his name as MrBreast…should have read it as what it is..MrAsshole
SFHarry
It doesn’t really matter to me if he is actually gay. What matters to me is what kind of content he is putting out about LGBT+ people. That is what will affect us.