MrBeast is as soon as once more testing the bounds of leisure and sparking main backlash within the course of. The YouTube megastar, whose actual identify is Jimmy Donaldson, is defending himself after releasing a brand new video that reveals a contestant trying to flee a burning constructing for a shot at a $500,000 prize. The video, titled “Would You Danger Dying For $500,000?”, debuted on Saturday and has already racked up greater than 44 million views. It begins with knowledgeable stuntman tied up inside a burning room, $500,000 in money sitting behind him as flames roar across the set. “This man is actually in a burning constructing,” MrBeast says within the video, which challenges the stuntman to navigate what he describes as “7 dying traps.” Among the many fiery obstacles is being shot out of a cannon by way of flames and leaping by way of burning rings.

The stunt shortly divided viewers. Critics flooded social media with questions on whether or not Donaldson had gone too far. “Is that this leisure or low-key torture? The place’s the road?” one viral remark learn.

“Placing somebody in a burning home, even for that kinda money, is crossing a line,” one other mentioned. “Looks as if there are higher methods to entertain people with out placing lives on the road. Simply my two cents, although.

A 3rd requested, “How is that this even allowed to occur?”

As criticism unfold on-line, MrBeast shortly fired again, insisting the stunt was tightly managed and extensively examined earlier than filming.

“In case there’s any concern concerning the security of the stuntman contestant, I simply needed to say that we take security extraordinarily significantly,” he wrote in a pinned touch upon his YouTube video. “Each problem was examined by a number of stuntmen, we now have a full rescue group on standbywith firefighters, EMTs and divers outfitted with an ambulance and fireplace truck.

MrBeast added, “We additionally had a pyro group controlling the fires and a number of fireplace suppression strategies on each problem to make sure we might primarily flip off the hearth if there was ever a problem. However our stunt coordinator did a tremendous job as at all times, and none of those techniques had been ever wanted. Simply needed to be clear with you all since I noticed some concern!”

MrBeast additionally addressed the controversy over on X.  “This blew up,” Donaldson wrote. “In case you’re curious, clearly, we had air flow for the smoke and a kill swap to chop off the fires. We had professionals check this extensively, and the man within the video, as said, is knowledgeable stuntman. I take security extra severe than you can ever think about.”

The fiery $500K stunt additionally arrives as questions swirl concerning the sustainability of MrBeast’s large content material machine. A current Bloomberg profile of the 27-year-old creator revealed that whereas his YouTube channel is the preferred on the planet, his movies are so costly to make that they usually lose cash.

In keeping with the report, Beast Industries, Donaldson’s umbrella firm, has posted losses for 3 straight years, together with greater than $110 million in 2024. Every of his elaborate YouTube productions reportedly prices between $3 million and $4 million to provide, that means even viral hits with tens of thousands and thousands of views usually fail to interrupt even.

Past YouTube, Donaldson has expanded his model into enterprise ventures like Feastables, his standard chocolate and snack line, and Beast Philanthropy, a nonprofit channel devoted to large-scale charitable efforts reminiscent of meals financial institution donations and housing tasks.

Most lately, MrBeast teamed up with fellow creator Mark Rober for #TeamWater, a world marketing campaign aimed toward offering clear ingesting water throughout Africa and Southeast Asia. The trouble raised over $41 million, fueled by donations from greater than 100,000 people. Whereas the typical contribution was lower than $4, company giants like Google, TikTok, and Accenture boosted the marketing campaign with multimillion-dollar pledges.