MrBeast probe ends with some employees fired but finds no proof of sexual misconduct allegations

NEW YORK -- Online video accumulation institution MrBeast said Friday it has fired location betwixt 5 to 10 labor pursuing an investigation into nan YouTube empire's workplace culture.

A institution spokesperson declined to put a precise number connected nan firings, opportunity which labor were fto spell aliases for what reasons. But nan shakeup comes arsenic Jimmy Donaldson, who draws millions of views nether nan MrBeast othername pinch highly produced stunts and giveaways, deals pinch accusations of impropriety against himself, his collaborators and others wrong his multimillion-dollar accumulation institution that person threatened his family-friendly image.

Investigators only identified “several isolated instances of workplace harassment and misconduct," according to a two-page missive sent Friday by Alex Spiro, a proceedings lawyer who led nan investigation by white-shoe rule patient Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and whose clients person included Jay-Z and Elon Musk.

The astir three-month probe concluded that location was nary ground down allegations that MrBeast squad members committed intersexual misconduct aliases “knowingly” employed group pinch “proclivities aliases histories towards forbidden aliases questionable ineligible conduct."

Spiro said nan squad interviewed 39 existent and erstwhile employees. Millions of documents from phones, emails, and messaging platforms including Discord and Slack were besides reviewed, according to nan letter.

The controversies surrounding nan alleged King of YouTube began snowballing this summer. Ava Tyson, a Donaldson friend and chap creator accused of sharing inappropriate intersexual messages pinch minors complete aggregate years, near nan transmission successful July. Also circulated online by YouTuber Rosanna Pansino was a 2017 signaling of Donaldson making racist comments and utilizing homophobic slurs.

A preliminary July sprout for his eager “Beast Games” Amazon Prime Video show was quickly hit pinch information complaints from immoderate contestants who said they faced “limited sustenance” and “insufficient aesculapian staffing” while competing for a $5 cardinal expansive prize.

MrBeast successful move has hired caller executives, including a caput of unit and a wide counsel, according to Spiro, and further labor are getting “targeted training and executive coaching” for undisclosed violations of institution policy.

The institution “has grown exceedingly quickly from a YouTube start-up comprised of a group of talented young individuals to a overmuch larger entity,” Spiro wrote to MrBeast's Board of Directors. “It is not uncommon that policies and practices basal successful a mature institution would lag down commercialized success.”

Donaldson has mostly remained silent connected nan matters. He precocious launched a prepacked luncheon marque alongside net personalities Logan Paul and KSI — marking his latest entranceway into nan nutrient marketplace aft his cocoa barroom and burger concatenation were met pinch mixed reviews. His 325 cardinal YouTube subscribers person continued to spot their feeds filled pinch outlandish, high-energy videos for illustration nan precocious titled “100 Identical Twins Fight For $250,000.”

In a Friday station connected X sharing Spiro's letter, Donaldson wrote that he “was asked to refrain from making nationalist statements to alteration a elaborate and unbiased investigation.”

Pansino, 1 of Donaldson’s astir vocal critics, responded connected X that nan findings of “workplace harassment and misconduct” and “multiple firings” mean "it mightiness beryllium clip for a bigger investigation.”

Donaldson's level of fame and maturation spot him successful “pretty uncommon company,” said advertizing lawyer Robert Freund, whose believe helps creators resoluteness disputes. He said he suspects nan missive was released successful effort to guarantee stakeholders “that he's moving a master operation.”

“I don’t spot thing fishy aliases suspicious astir what we’ve been presented pinch present arsenic nan public,” Freund told The Associated Press.

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