MrBeast controversy deepens: Partner speaks out amid serious claims

MrBeast is the most popular YouTuber in the world. Recently, he found himself in the spotlight due to controversies. His former employees accused him of staging content presented as spontaneous and unethical treatment of collaborators. Two nearly hour-long recordings were released on the DogPack404 YouTube channel, and their author, Dawson, has announced additional videos.

Earlier, Donaldson's long-time collaborator, Ava Kris Tyson, left the MrBeast channel after being accused of sending inappropriate messages to a minor. Additionally, there were allegations against MrBeast for knowingly hiring a registered sex offender who appeared on the channel as Delaware. Jimmy Donaldson did not address Dawson's allegations, stating that he is waiting for all the facts to come to light and adding that he is "conducting an internal investigation." However, his partner, Thea Booysen, has spoken out.

Thea Booysen, a 26-year-old YouTuber from South Africa, mainly publishes content related to Disney's card game Lorcana on her channel. During a live stream on 10 August at 8 PM GMT, one of the commenters wrote to Booysen in Afrikaans: "As a fellow South African and an admirer of your intelligence and good nature, please get away from the Beast as soon as you can." The YouTuber replied: "I appreciate the message. There is so much that is not being said, I wish I could talk more about the situation. Half the things said are not true, I wouldn’t be with him if they were.

Booysen added, "It is so important to me to be a good person. Hopefully things will be fixed soon, but for now I’m focusing on my studies and trying to stay away from everything." The internet was abuzz when the YouTuber used the phrase "half." Understandable questions and concerns arose: "Only half?" or "Which half is true?"

Former Donaldson collaborator Jake Weddle appeared in the second video on the DogPack404 channel. The young man had participated in recordings for the MrBeast channel. In a long interview, he talked about a video that was never published. It involved filming Weddle's reactions during 30 days of isolation. Weddle claimed that the conditions resembled illegal torture practices, such as not turning off the lights in the room where he was held.

Weddle reportedly quit participating in the recording after several days when he was persuaded to run a marathon on a treadmill in his solitary confinement. Weddle emphasized that while people close to MrBeast were allowed to take breaks off-camera during other challenges, he was denied such privileges. Donaldson allegedly visited him daily in confinement and did not respond to the deteriorating mental state of his collaborator.