A third-party legal probe into Jimmy Donaldson’s MrBeast LLC found that allegations of sexual misconduct directed at the top YouTube creator’s company were baseless.
MrBeast LLC hired the law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan to conduct the investigation in July after online commentators accused former longtime MrBeast channel collaborator Ava Kris Tyson of “grooming.”
Tyson had regularly appeared in videos on the MrBeast channel, which boasts over 305 million subscribers and features outrageous challenges, elaborate giveaways and high-spending comparison videos. Tyson denied the allegations and announced her departure from the channel.
The probe’s findings, shared with NBC News, come after months of mounting scrutiny on Donaldson, who was thrust in the middle of allegations about Tyson, his past comments and as his new Amazon Prime show “Beast Games.”
Quinn Emanuel said it conducted 39 interviews of current and former employees and reviewed over 4.5 million documents from mobile phones, emails, Telegrams, Discords, WhatsApps and Slack.
In a social media post Friday, Donaldson wrote on X that an investigation into allegations regarding his company had concluded.
“I was asked to refrain from making public statements to enable a detailed and unbiased investigation,” he wrote, attaching screenshots of the law firm’s findings.
The three-month probe doesn’t mention Tyson by name. But the law firm wrote in its assessment that “allegations of sexual misconduct (e.g., pedophilia, grooming, child pornography, etc.) between Company employees and minors are without basis.”
“The allegations were soundly rejected, including by alleged victims,” Quinn Emanuel wrote.
Tyson was criticized for developing a relationship with a minor online beginning when the person was 13 and Tyson was 20. The minor, LavaGS, now 20, rebutted the grooming claims at the time in a post on X, calling them “massive lies.”
Tyson and LavaGS did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday.
In a post on X, LavaGS said private investigators reviewed all the DMs and interactions between them and Tyson.
“It was incredibly difficult having my name thrown around in a public forum without being given the opportunity to share the truth,” LavaGS wrote Friday. “Thankfully the people doing the investigation actually did reach out and gave me the opportunity to tell the truth, which I very much appreciated.”
“I was not groomed, these were false allegations made up by other people with my name thrown in them,” LavaGS added.
In July, Donaldson had said in a post on X that he didn’t know about Tyson’s messages. Online commentators had scrutinized public posts between Tyson and LavaGS on X and Discord, including some referring to nude photos, sex and hentai, meaning anime pornography. NBC News was unable to independently verify the posts, which appeared to have been taken down in July.
The law firm findings determined that “allegations of the Company knowingly employing individuals with proclivities or histories towards illegal or questionable legal conduct are similarly without basis.”
The two-page probe also reviewed the company’s workplace and culture following public comments made by former employees.
“Several isolated instances of workplace harassment and misconduct were identified during the investigation,” the law firm wrote, without detailing specifics about the cases.”The Company was informed of such conduct and took swift and appropriate actions to address the incidents, including, where necessary, disciplining or letting go of implicated individuals.”
Donaldson earned an estimated $82 million last year, according to Forbes, which named him the top creator of 2023. His channel has grown exponentially in recent years, and he has collaborated with numerous other creators, such as Kai Cenat, Logan Paul and Bella Poarch.
Amazon Studios reportedly paid Donaldson $100 million for his reality competition series “Beast Games,” which has also faced allegations of poor working conditions. At least five contestants filed a class action lawsuit in September alleging they were “shamelessly exploited” while competing. Representatives for Donaldson have not commented on the lawsuit but previously said the production team has “taken steps to ensure that we learn from this experience.”
The probe does not look at the claims directed at Donaldson that he fostered an unsafe working environment on set of the games.
Quinn Emanuel said MrBeast’s company has implemented changes and continues to do so “to ensure a safe and professional corporate culture today and moving forward.”
These measures, according to the law firm’s report, include: hiring new top leaders (a new CEO, chief people officer and general counsel); “Implementing mandatory corporate training for all employees”; “developing new policies codified in an employee handbook”; “establishing an anonymous reporting mechanism/hotline for employees”; and “swiftly terminating individuals who violated company policy.”
“It is clear that the Company is committed to remedying historical issues and creating a mature culture where problematic behaviors are not tolerated as it enters this new phase,” the law firm said.
