Popular YouTuber MrBeast, AKA Jimmy Donaldson, recently helped 1000 deaf people hear again.
By paying for state-of-the-art hearing technology, he enabled moms and dads to hear their kids for the first time, kids to hear their parents, wives to hear their husbands, and so on and so forth.
He didn’t stop there, either.
Alongside the gift of hearing, he handed over tens of thousands of dollars in cash, tickets to Taylor Swift concerts, courtside basketball tickets, and much more.
Likewise, the people he helped weren’t all from America. MrBeast and his team restored hearing to deaf people in Mexico, Guatemala, Brazil, South Africa, Malawi, and Indonesia, too.
And, to top it off, in recognition that hearing isn’t the only way to connect people, they’re also donating $100k to organizations that teach sign language.
A History of Helping
This is the YouTuber’s latest installment in a long series of philanthropic videos, the last of which involved restoring sight to 1,000 blind people.
Indeed, MrBeast – whose main channel currently has 151 million subscribers – is well-known for using his platform to help others.
In fact, it’s been a central theme throughout his rise to YouTube stardom.
One of his first videos to go viral involved him walking up to a random homeless man and handing him $10,000 in cash.
Since then, he’s:
- Given random people new cars and entire homes
- Donated 20,000 shoes to children in Africa
- Built wells in Africa
- Cleared beaches of rubbish
- Planted millions of trees
- Rebuilt homes for tornado survivors and built homes for homeless people
- Opened a “bank” where he gave everyone free money
- Given millions of dollars worth of aid to Ukrainian refugees
And dozens more noteworthy acts of charity. Donaldson’s now set up an entirely separate channel devoted to charitable deeds called Beast Philanthropy. 100% of any profits it makes from sponsorship, ad revenue, and merch sales are said to go to “making the world a better place.”
A History of Criticism
Despite the undeniable good that comes from these MrBeast videos, he’s also faced significant backlash for them.
They divide opinion.
Some question his motivations, for example, suggesting he’s only attempting to get more views and make more money. Others claim he’s exploiting vulnerable people to create content.
Mr Beast has been making exploitative content for awhile now. I have no idea why people are suddenly talking about it. He uses vulnerable and desperate people for content. I’m glad 1000 people can now see. Doesn’t make him a good person for making that happen
— Athena 🔆🏳️⚧️ (@DeliciousBoogs) January 31, 2023
Some say he’s only putting a bandaid on a wider problem. And many argue that none of this counts as charity because he makes a profit from his videos.
His Fans Are On His Side
Countless people praise MrBeast’s efforts, though.
His fans note that he’s raising awareness of important issues and, unlike other wealthy people, actually using his money to make a difference.
Likewise, some point out that he’s using philanthropy to fund further philanthropy. He might be making money, but it’s going to good causes.
Mr beast found an infinite money glitch where philanthropy pays for more philanthropy. Yall need to chill on him lmao
— Easterhands (@Easterhandz) March 9, 2023
I don’t care about Mr. Beast I genuinely barely know anything about him, his platform, whatever.
— [HB] RAINEY™ (@RaineyOvalle) January 31, 2023
All I’m gonna say on the matter is that if monetizing good deeds is the means by which 1000 PEOPLE are literally CURED of BLINDNESS, I am 100% okay with monetizing good deeds.
MrBeast has also responded to the criticism. One of his tweets from earlier this year read:
Twitter – Rich people should help others with their money
— MrBeast (@MrBeast) January 30, 2023
Me – Okay, I’ll use my money to help people and I promise to give away all my money before I die. Every single penny.
Twitter – MrBeast bad
Back in 2020, he also revealed his long-term aim, which sounds far removed from the money-hoarding motivations his criticizers suggest he has:
I want to build other channels like beast gaming and beast reacts so I can run my main channel at a loss and grow as big as possible. And then use my main channel’s influence to one day open hundreds of homeless shelters/food banks and give away all the money.
— MrBeast (@MrBeast) August 10, 2020
Time will tell what the response to his latest charity video will be. What do you think? Is MrBeast a hero or villain?
You can watch the video here.
This post first appeared on Wise Healthy n Wealthy.