In the meantime, Jimmy continues to make videos and raise money for more YouTube philanthropy. Jake and Logan Paul have also come under fire in the past for making homophobic statements on Twitter. Earlier last summer, the YouTuber Jack Jones had to apologize for a homophobic outburst. The British YouTube powerhouse Zoella was forced to apologize in November for mocking gay men on Twitter. Before they were made aware of his comments, two YouTubers told me they considered Jimmy to be kind, humble, and earnest.īut homophobia runs deep in the YouTube community, and Jimmy is not the first to be called out for making offensive statements. When a kid who worked for Jimmy as a contract video editor for a week accused him of faking portions of his videos, many other YouTubers defended him, calling the accusations baseless. Jimmy is beloved by many in the YouTube community. Minutes after the call ended, Jimmy deleted all tweets using the word “fag” from his Twitter account. When informed that this was not an option, he suggested that he respond to a list of questions in writing over email, saying, “Wouldn’t it be easier if I just filled out these answers instead of saying this?” Finally, he said “I’m just a dumb kid that makes YouTube videos and I don’t like doing interviews,” before cutting the call short and hanging up. Is Social Media Luring Hikers Into 'Death Gully'? Sarah Tory and High Country News More recently, in December 2016, he responded to a tweet saying “I don’t have a printer fag.” Just this past December, in 2017, he replied to another person on Twitter, “STFU fag.” “Windows is gay,” he tweeted regarding his frustration using the operating system in December 2015.
Jimmy regularly uses the notion of being gay as a punchline and treats the word like a slur, hurling it at people or things he’s attempting to diss. “I don’t know why-and I’m not just saying this to look good-I’ve just always been a really nice guy.”īut what many people might consider not so nice are the homophobic jokes Jimmy has made on his YouTube channel or his habit of calling people “fags” on Twitter. It’s something I’ve had an issue with, I’m that much of a nice guy,” he says. Jimmy explained his generosity in a video from this month. “Yes, but you get money too, so we’re both happy,” he says. She rejects the check repeatedly before Jimmy jokes, “If I don’t give it to you, I don’t have a viral video.” “So you’re using me for views?” she responds. He explains this to his mother in a video from December when he gives his mom a check for $100,000. And monetizing his viral videos also allows him to grow his audience. While giving away such large amounts of cash is undoubtedly noble, he doesn’t give away all his profits. For most of his videos he acts as a social-media Robin Hood, donating the money he receives from brand deals. If you’re curious how such a young man obtained such a large amount of cash, Jimmy only occasionally donates his own money. “MrBeast videos are the best dumb videos I’ve ever seen,” said another. “My new thing when I am feeling down is to watch a MrBeast video and just see the pure joy on peoples faces when someone is nice for no reason, which in turn makes me feel better about the world in general,” one fan tweeted. In one video he dropped $20,000 out of a drone in another, he gave his mom $100,000 to help pay off her mortgage. He gave 3 million pennies ($30,000) to his 3 millionth subscriber, overtipped his cab drivers, and more. In a recent video titled, “I Gave $500,000 To Random People,” Drake’s song “God’s Plan” plays over a montage of previous videos of Jimmy throwing out hundreds of dollars to strangers. His family-friendly stunts have garnered an audience of nearly 5 million subscribers on YouTube and his channel is growing exponentially by the day. Known to many in the community as “YouTube’s biggest philanthropist,” to date, he has donated more than $500,000 to people including an Uber driver, a waitress, random people in parking lots, Twitch streamers, and homeless people in his North Carolina neighborhood-all of which has been captured on his vlog.
Over the past year, Jimmy, a 20-year-old YouTuber known as “ MrBeast” who chooses not to reveal his last name in his videos, has gone repeatedly viral for giving away massive amounts of cash.