Open on… one man. Stood in a position of power. He looks out onto an arena of cheering subjects. With just one thumbs or one thumbs down, he has the power to send a heroic challenger to a grizzly end.
No, we’re not talking about the Coliseums of Ancient Rome. We’re talking modern day MrBeast - and his Amazon Prime series, Beast Games.
This is the reality we’re living in. A content creator has become a cultural force - a ruler in the modern arena of always-watching, always-engaged followers.
Fun fact: with over 340 million YouTube subscribers, MrBeast’s following would rank as the 4th largest nation in the world if they were to form a country. But with that much power, when do we start to question how the supreme leader is ruling? Especially when a lot of the empire has been built on the backs of others.
With his giveback videos a major factor in his success, should we be questioning if this is philanthropy - or faux-lanthropy?
MrBeast’s philanthropy in cold, hard facts
Like a lawyer in court or an AI chatbot trying to write copy, let’s keep the emotion out of it and look at the data of MrBeast’s philanthropy.
Correct as of early 2025, per the organization’s website, MrBeast (aka Jimmy Donaldson) has helped:
- Distribute over 34 million pounds of food to those in need
- Deliver over 28 million meals
- Remove over 33 million pounds of trash from the oceans
- Feed over 5.08 million individuals
- Build a village previously living in darkness
- Give away $1,000,000 worth of toys
- Fix $1,000,000 worth of smiles
- And on and on…
So, why are we mad at him?
It’s hard not to agree that MrBeast’s dedication to giving back has certainly made giving back and doing something for others easier, more widespread and more expected amongst his followers - who, a large majority, will be younger.
This is surely a good thing.
Remember when charity was actually, well, hard? You’d need credit card numbers. Telethons. Raising chunks of change with charity runs or pajama days at school. And then, where did the money go?
The least you can say about MrBeast is that you get that immediate gratification of giving back and getting to see where your donations go.
So, again, it’s hard to see this as anything but positive. But then…
Should charity be a trend?
What happens if, one day, one of MrBeast’s scandals brings him down? In the age of ‘cancel now, ask questions later’, does the charity dry up? Projects left half-completed?
When you tie philanthropy so heavily inside a culture of personality, the risk is people are subscribing to it and not the deed.
If, or once, that bubble bursts, who is able to blow it up again?
Is not profiting enough?
Lofty, theoretical questions aside, one thing that can’t be overlooked is MrBeast’s transparency that he doesn’t personally profit from his dedicated charity channel, BeastPhilanthropy.
“100% of the profits from my ad revenue, merch sales, and sponsorships will go towards making the world a better place!” reads the bio.
But, just because one person doesn’t gain something, does that mitigate the losses to another?
And, let’s be frank here, people do lose from these platforms. They lose the right to privacy. They lose the right to control their own narratives. And, one extreme viewpoint might argue that they lose a sense of their humanity.
Their stories are taken from them. Turned into ‘entertainment’ or blended into the tapestry of a more successful, more privileged narrative.
One person’s trauma feeds another person’s triumph.
These videos, though not generating personal income, contribute to the building of the MrBeast brand. Which is profitable. Considerably so.
One side of the coin will argue that at least they’re getting help. Another might ask - “but did they have any other choice?”
A, B or C
When it comes to appraising MrBeast’s charitable efforts over the years, the correct answer feels like a multiple choice from the SATs.
People act as if it’s as simple as, choose the right answer:
- MrBeast is a genuinely good person using his status to help others
- MrBeast is like any other celebrity - he’s doing good things because it also helps himself
- MrBeast is exploiting those with less than him and his ‘good’ deeds are evil.
The issue is, it’s not quite as simple as that. And the answers might be somewhere in-between, or a little of each.
Where you land on the matter is a judgement call, but can there be any lessons from MrBeast - whether that’s something to repeat, or something to avoid?
- Be prepared for pushback. No good deed goes unpunished. People will always have something to say. If you, with every fiber of your being believe in your actions and your intentions, stand up to questioning and stand by your actions
- Be transparent. Don’t make it easy for someone to doubt you - where is the money going, how is it being spent, who is benefiting and how do you run your operations. This will make or break you.
- You can’t win them all. For every one person that calls it exploitation, there’s another who will point out that someone at least is doing something. Whether it’s in the name of profit-seeking or brand building, why shouldn’t a good deed benefit both parties?
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