Controversial YouTuber MrBeast has been criticised for a video where he challenges a stuntman to escape from a burning building for cash.
James Stephen ‘Jimmy’ Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, has created the world’s biggest YouTube channel, predominantly through videos where he stages elaborate challenges for cash prizes.
His popularity led him to host a reality TV series on Amazon, entitled Beast Games, which was subject to abuse allegations and a pending lawsuit from contestants.
While the YouTuber has always attracted controversy, his latest video has garnered more attention than normal due to its extreme nature.
In the video entitled ‘Would You Risk Dying for $500,000?’, MrBeast challenges a stuntman named Eric to complete a series of seven ‘death traps’ for cash prizes.
The challenges are themed around fire, and vary from being shot out of a cannon to jumping through burning rings, but it’s the opening stunt which has drawn criticism from viewers.
The first challenge sees Eric, who MrBeast repeatedly reminds viewers is a professional stuntman, tied to a chair inside a burning building in front of $500,000 (£372,255) cash. Eric manages to untie himself and escape with $250,000 relatively unscathed, although his shoes catch fire at one point, which prompts nearby firefighters to rush in with an extinguisher.
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After a clip of the video went viral, some viewers called MrBeast ‘evil’ and a ‘sociopath’ over the stunt. ‘His brain is broken,’ one viewer wrote on X. ‘And parents need to make sure their children are not watching this torture porn. And any adult watching this s*** is not right in the head either.’
‘It’s actually going to take MrBeast killing someone for people to really understand how f***ing dangerous he is,’ another stated.
Amid the backlash, MrBeast posted a statement in the comments of the video, claiming that he takes ‘safety extremely seriously’.
‘In case there’s any concern about the safety of the stuntman contestant, I just wanted to mention that we take safety extremely seriously,’ he wrote. ‘Every challenge was tested by multiple stuntmen, we have a full rescue team on standby with firefighters, EMTs and divers equipped with an ambulance and fire truck.
‘We also had a pyro team controlling the fires and multiple fire suppression methods on every challenge to ensure we could essentially turn off the fire if there was ever an issue. But our stunt coordinator did an amazing job as always, and none of these systems were ever needed. Just wanted to be transparent with you all since I saw some concern!’
In response to the viral clip on X, MrBeast added: ‘This blew up, if you’re curious obviously we had ventilation for the smoke and a kill switch to cut off the fires. We had professionals test this extensively and the guy in the video as stated is a professional stuntman. I take safety more serious than you could ever imagine.’
The video has amassed over 44 million views since it was posted two days ago on September 27, 2025. At the time of writing, MrBeast’s YouTube channel has over 441 million subscribers.
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It’s interesting to see how MrBeast’s content can spark such strong reactions. His videos always seem to push boundaries, and it’s clear he knows how to generate conversation. Looking forward to seeing how this situation unfolds!
Absolutely! MrBeast’s unique approach to pushing boundaries definitely keeps viewers engaged, but it also raises important questions about ethics in content creation. It’s fascinating how his experiments can evoke both admiration and criticism simultaneously.