The world we live in…
To be honest I don’t know a lot about MrBeast. Sure I spend a lot of time on the internet, but I’ve just never really dug into his content.
But the YouTuber, whose real name is James Stephen “Jimmy” Donaldson has built up over 200 million followers on his channel for his videos that feature his insane stunts, as well as himself just giving away money.
In his latest video, MrBeast went to Africa and built 100 wells to provide clean drinking water for up to 500,000 people in Cameroon, Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Zimbabwe. And he’s also launched a fundraiser to help build even more wells, which has raised over $350,000 as of right now.
Sounds like a good thing, right? No way anybody could be mad at that, no?
Well it’s 2023, so you know better.
Of course people are upset that MrBeast…checks notes…provided clean drinking water to half a million people.
Why? Because he’s a white man.
In an article from CNN, Saran Kaba Jones, founder and CEO of FACE Africa, an organization working to provide clean water access in Africa, said:
“I’ve been doing this for 15 years, but we’ve been struggling to continue the work because funding, awareness, and advocacy all take work.
Overnight, this person comes along, who happens to be a white male figure with a huge platform, and all of a sudden, he gets all of the attention. It’s kind of frustrating, but it’s also understanding the nature of how the world is.”
Others criticized the YouTuber for perpetuating the stereotype that Africa is dependent on handouts:
And Yahoo News published an article highlighting criticizing MrBeast for his charitable actions.
And over on Twitter (or X, whatever) there are plenty of people upset at MrBeast for what they see as a “white savior complex.”
For his part, MrBeast says that he’s not too worried about the controversy, and fully expected it when he released the video:
“I already know I’m gonna get canceled because I uploaded a video helping people, and to be 100% clear, I don’t care. I’m always going to use my channel to help people and try to inspire my audience to do the same.”
I already know I’m gonna get canceled because I uploaded a video helping people, and to be 100% clear, I don’t care. I’m always going to use my channel to help people and try to inspire my audience to do the same 😅❤️
— MrBeast (@MrBeast) November 4, 2023
I guess it truly is impossible to make everybody happy these days. 2023, man.
