On Saturday, the MrBeast channel uploaded the video “I Helped 2,000 People Walk Again.” In it, host and star Jimmy Donaldson travels the world, paying for prosthetic limbs or surgeries that would help those chosen be active again.
The video follows the same path as other philanthropic content Donaldson has produced. Donaldson has previously paid to help others see with cataract surgery and hear with hearing aids.
“Just uploaded a video where we helped 2,000 amputees walk again,” Donaldson wrote on X. “Many lived in America and it feels so disgusting that in a country with this much wealth, a fucken YouTuber is their only option to get a prosthetic leg. We need to fix this.”
Donaldson’s message speaking out against the United States’ broken healthcare system struck a chord with many in the online community. When it was reshared to the YouTube subreddit, it pulled over 70,000 upvotes.
Is MrBeast Tilting At Windmills With Reddit Mods?
However, hours after the post went live and gained traction, it was suddenly removed. People were confused since it didn’t seem to break any of Reddit’s community guidelines or rules.
This post’s deletion did not sit well with Donaldson. MrBeast wrote on X, “Such a shame that the mods on r/youtube will do anything to censor MrBeast unless it’s negative about me then it’s magically fine.”
A member of MrBeast’s team, Chucky, wrote that the post was removed for “no reason,” adding, “It’s wild how Reddit mods work overtime to control the narrative and fuel hate.”
If you listen to Donaldson and other pro-MrBeast accounts, you’d believe these Reddit mods were out to slander Donaldson. His crime? Trying to do good deeds.
However, the reality is more complicated. According to the subreddit moderator Jokull in a post on r/YouTube, “the post was taken down by Automoderator.” When Jokull learned about its takedown, it was reinstated.
“The simple answer is that I was out running errands with my kids as it is the weekend, so for a bit, it was down,” the mod wrote. The posts from Donaldson and the company disparaging the Reddit moderator remain up. Jokull declined to comment when reached. In a Reddit message, they told Passionfruit, “I’m not looking to have any drama or beef with any creators.”
Reddit Users Are Still Looking Into MrBeast
Another post on the r/YouTubedrama from later that day received much less attention from Donaldson. A user pointed out that MrBeastYouTube LLC was listed on the December 2024 North Carolina General Assembly Lobbying Directory. They have five lobbyists, including former NC Senator Tom Apodaca.
According to the lobbying database F-Minus, Apodaca represents Sentara Healthcare, OrthoCarolina, and Conservatives for a Clean Energy Future. The Redditor who posted the information had a great question.
“Why did MrBeast hire lobbyists who are anti-universal healthcare if he cares about it so much?” they asked. A spokesperson for MrBeast declined to comment when reached by Passionfruit.
This isn’t Donaldson’s first connection with the US government. In December, Rolling Stone reported that MrBeast had been “approved to receive production support from the Department of Defense” in 2023. Ultimately, no collaboration ever happened.
“They were going to help us with some hurricane relief projects but it didn’t end up happening,” Donaldson wrote in response to an aggregator on X.
Moderation Feels Like Persecution If You’re Used To Controlling Your Narrative
Donaldson pays quite a lot of attention to Reddit, complaining about what he perceives as a negative bias from moderators. In his interview with YouTuber Oompaville, Donaldson said that r/YouTubedrama was “censoring positive posts.” MrBeast even claimed, “Anytime there’s a post proving that I’m not evil, they take it down.”
The head moderator, i542, wrote that posts were deleted for either being duplicates, information that should be collected in a “mega thread,” or unsubstantiated rumors. “We try not to police too much,” r/YouTubedrama mod Plopmcg33 told Passionfruit. “Someone can say an unpopular opinion and while yes it will be downvoted we can’t do anything about that.”
Donaldson is the world’s largest creator and has targeted critics, pointing his millions of subscribers at an IGN writer who gave Beast Games a 2/10 or these mods. Reddit moderators are unpaid laborers who have to police the communities they run or risk having them wiped off the face of the site.
There are, of course, instances of these moderators using their unchecked power as tyrants, leading to more than onemutiny. But there’s also a perceived bias from users who disagree with moderator decisions, feeling personally peeved at having their content removed or silenced.
