Two of YouTube’s biggest creators, MrBeast and Jacksepticeye, recently engaged in a brief but intense feud over X (formerly known as Twitter), much to fans’ astonishment.
Jacksepticeye or “Jack” (Seán McLoughlin) is an Irish YouTuber who has become known thanks to his Let’s Play videos, known for his unfiltered comments and perverse sense of humor. Its content has been hailed as “a spoken comedy and a stream of consciousness” and Jack describes himself as “YouTube’s most life-filled video game commentator. “
Over the years, Jack’s has expanded into comedy sketches, vlogs, and memes; Lately he has more than 30 million subscribers on YouTube.
MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson) is an American YouTuber turned hardliner, with over 181 million subscribers; his channel is the second with the highest number of subscribers on YouTube and was ranked as the highest paid YouTube author by Forbes in 2022.
MrBeast is known for creating high-level, meticulously organized videos about natural spectacles or acts of generous charity towards those in need.
A video clip that went viral on social media shows Jack hooked up to a lie detector detector and then asks direct questions about MrBeast.
Jack didn’t hesitate to voice his opinion and, with any luck, claimed that MrBeast “ruined YouTube” and replaced the content creation game for better or worse.
“It’s more about opinions, money and popularity than laughing. If he laughed making those videos, they would be longer. We’d see the laughter,” Jack said.
YouTube fans, still enjoying the drama between creators, retweeted and commented on the clip, until the video drew MrBeast’s attention to “X,” prompting the YouTuber to make a defensive comment:
“So, did I ‘ruin YouTube’ because I didn’t buy a mansion or sports cars and reinvest my money in content creation/focusing on kids’ intelligence and inspiration for people?
“If you had fun, the videos would be longer”, what does mdr mean?Do you think I would give up every single hour of my life for 14 years if I wasn’t having fun?
In my opinion, this clip is incredibly disrespectful and obviously there’s a lot I can say about its content, but I’m going to take the punches and be the tallest man. Sigh. “
MrBeast temporarily removed the comment, but the web had already taken screenshots and posted them on social media, prompting more comments from enthusiasts and other creators.
Ethan Klein of h3h3productions responded to the comment, protecting MrBeast’s content and pointing out Jack’s perceived hypocrisy. Klein wrote:
“And with no disrespect to Jacksepticeye, he’s a great guy in every way, yet he spends most of his career releasing two games a day. . . You don’t post that loud unless “You’re looking to make a lot of money, let’s say. Be realistic. And man, you publish plays, not exactly the pinnacle of art and effort.
Also, this revisionist story of a utopian YouTube where no one cared about perspectives and everyone laughed all the time is completely absurd.
The only difference between now and then is that Jimmy has surely ruled the area like never before, creating content that no one had created before. In fact, this would arguably be the first time in YouTube’s history where Persona 1 also creates the most productive content.
MrBeast liked the comment. At X, Klein didn’t rate Jack’s Let’s Play’s content as “low-effort. “
Many defended MrBeast, pointing out that YouTube’s cultural shift is systemic, an inevitable result of the algorithm’s attraction, and cannot be attributed to a single person.
Others criticized MrBeast for having a “hero complex” and noted that there was something disturbing about his mix of raucous clickbait and humble generosity.
When X was still called Twitter, the thumbnails of accidentally laughing MrBeast videos went viral, as users discovered them in bad taste, even “demonic. “Making MrBeast laugh has become something of an inside joke on the site.
MrBeast’s company-sponsored charity events have been criticized by commentators as a cynical branding effort.
Criticism aside, MrBeast has presented himself as an apolitical artist who likes to help others. In interviews, he described himself as “hyper-obsessed” with YouTube and found success thanks to his remarkable perseverance and determination.
One could simply argue that MrBeast’s content was formed through YouTube’s culture and algorithm, and not the other way around.
Regardless, the two creators seem to have discussed their enmity privately and have now sorted things out. On X, MrBeast posted a smiling emoji and said, “We sent a message, we’re now Gucci,” followed by a smiley emoji.
Jacksepticeye confirmed, replying to the message with a cowboy emoji and a thumbs up.