MrBeast defends trapping man in burning building for Ksh64M
By BBC, September 29, 2025MrBeast, the world’s biggest YouTuber, has defended his latest stunt video – “Would You Risk Dying for Ksh64.5M (£372,000)” – which shows a professional stuntman escaping a blazing building while collecting bags of cash.
The fiery spectacle sparked fury, as some online suggested it was dangerously irresponsible and could put viewers who might copy the clip at risk.
In response to the criticism, MrBeast – real name Jimmy Donaldson – said, “I take safety more seriously than you could ever imagine.”
Donaldson has more than 440 million subscribers on YouTube and is believed to be its highest-paid creator. His business ventures also include fast food and an Amazon TV gameshow, Beast Games.
The video, first posted on YouTube on Saturday, currently has over 45 million views. In it, Eric, the contestant, takes on seven “death traps,” including getting shot out of a cannon into some fire, surviving massive explosions, and escaping from what appears to be a mock-up of a small house.
The dramatic but highly produced scenes in the video prompted condemnation online, with social media users calling it dystopian and “humiliating.”
But some did highlight it was unlikely Eric was ever in any real danger, with at least one other describing it as “a PR stunt.”
Eric eventually completed the challenges with a haul of Ksh45.15M (£260,000).
Reacting to the backlash, MrBeast said: “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 seriously than you could ever imagine,” he said on social media platform X on Monday.
A pinned comment on the original YouTube video added: “We also had a pyro team [specialists in fire effects] 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!”