YouTube megastars at war: MrBeast 'reported to FBI' by Rosanna Pansino over ‘disturbing’ leaked messages

29 October 2024, 16:46

MrBeast, YouTube’s most popular creator, has been reported to the FBI over "disturbing" company chat logs.

Fellow YouTuber and baking personality Rosanna Pansino claims to have reported MrBeast, real name Jimmy Donaldson, to the FBI, calling the messages "crazy", "disturbing" and "inappropriate".

The messages, which are allegedly attributed to former MrBeast employees, include references to underage sexual activities, Nazi symbolism, and incest, usually shared as jokes.

Donaldson holds the record for the most subscribers on YouTube, with 324 million subscribers at the time of writing.

He recently topped the Forbes 2024 creators list, earning a record-breaking $85 million dollars (roughly £65 million) last year.

Read more: MrBeast co-host quits amid grooming allegations

Read more: YouTube star MrBeast breaks silence as co-host Ava Kris Tyson denies grooming claims

One of the messages is reported to include a photo showing a naked 13-year-old Ivanka Trump.

It was later confirmed that Ivanka Trump was actually 18-years-old in the photo, which was part of an April 2000 British GQ Magazine photoshoot.

Ms Pansino shared the messages in a YouTube video titled ‘MrBeast knew all along’.

Many of the messages shared are attributed to former longtime collaborator and close friend of Donaldson, Ava Kris Tyson.

In July, Ms Tyson, 28, was accused of sending inappropriate messages to a minor, aged 13 at the time, when she was 20. Both Tyson and the alleged victim have strenuously denied these allegations.

Tyson has since left the company.

In the video in which the accusations surfaced, Tyson said: "These MrBeast Company work chat logs have been confirmed as legitimate by multiple former MrBeast employees that were in the chats.

“I am sorting through them as quickly as I can. To me, this is proof that Jimmy Donaldson (MrBeast) knew about Ava Kris Tyson's behaviour for several years."

Ms Pansino, 39, says the messages were shared in official MrBeast company work chats between 2020 and 2021. Pansino claims Donaldson was an active member of the chats, using the alias John Smith.

This is not the first controversy Donaldson has been embroiled in.

Just last month, five female contestants on his upcoming Prime Video show Beast Games announced that they were launching legal action against his production company, MrB2024 and Amazon.

The 54-page legal document claims the contestants were “underfed and overtired”, and that they were physically injured and not given proper access to medical care.

It also alleges they suffered an environment that “systematically fostered a culture of misogyny and sexism”.

Donaldson has not commented on the allegations, and the FBI has not confirmed whether an investigation has been opened.

LBC has reached out to MrBeast for comment.