YouTube megastar Jimmy Donaldson popularly known as MrBeast has responded to mounting criticism over his latest viral production, a $500,000 (approx. KSh 66.7 million) fire stunt video that some viewers branded “irresponsible” and “dystopian.”
The video, posted on Saturday, September 27, 2025, is titled “Would You Risk Dying For $500,000?” and runs 25 minutes and 26 seconds.
It has already amassed 47 million views and more than 1.4 million likes, further cementing MrBeast’s dominance on YouTube, where he boasts an unmatched 442 million subscribers.
The challenge followed a stuntman named Eric, who attempted to win the prize money by navigating seven fire-themed traps.
The spectacle began with him tied to a chair inside a burning room with cash behind him and escalated to even more dangerous-looking scenes, including cannon launches, fiery obstacle courses, and massive explosions.
While the production quickly went viral, it also attracted a storm of criticism. Some social media users said the video exploited financial desperation for entertainment.
One user wrote: “Nothing about this is entertaining. For someone to go to the lengths of intentionally being in a burning house to secure life changing money and for you to turn it into content is dehumanizing. If you have free money to give away just give it away.”
Others defended the video, pointing out that Eric was a professional stuntman and that MrBeast productions typically involve large crews and strict oversight. One commenter noted:
“The person trapped was a professional stuntman. I mean I don’t really like MrBeast anymore but still despite a lot of his videos looking pretty dangerous they are probably all safe. There’s like a big crew of hundreds of people involved in his filmings and just like.”
Amid the heated debate, MrBeast clarified the safety measures through a post on X (formerly Twitter): “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 stunt man.”
In a pinned YouTube comment, his team went further: “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!”
Eric ultimately completed the challenges, taking home $350,000 (about KSh 46.7 million).
This isn’t the first time MrBeast has faced backlash. His Amazon Prime show Beast Games, which featured 1,000 contestants competing for a $5 million (KSh 667 million) prize, was recently cited in a lawsuit alleging “exploitation.”
He was also criticized earlier this year by the Mexican government for “exploiting” Mayan pyramids during filming and previously apologized after fans complained of a “horrible” experience at a Las Vegas event tied to his brand.
Still, MrBeast insists that safety remains the top priority: “I take safety more serious than you could ever imagine,” he said.
