YouTube’s Most Subscribed Channel Sparks Controversy among American Audience

Having the most YouTube followers in the world probably doesn’t make you a brain surgeon, but it does give you enough money to fund a children’s hospital.

In a landmark achievement for individual creators on YouTube, Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, has overtaken the Indian music label T-Series to become the platform’s most subscribed channel.

T-Series had held the top spot for the last five years after dethroning longstanding leader Felix Kjellberg, known as PewDiePie, in 2019. However, Donaldson’s meteoric rise culminated in him surpassing T-Series’ 266 million subscribers on Sunday, with his own subscriber count reaching a staggering 269 million across nearly 800 videos, according to the BBC.

The 26-year-old content creator celebrated the accomplishment on X (formerly Twitter), stating that he had “avenged” PewDiePie by overtaking the corporate entity that had ended the Swedish YouTuber’s lengthy reign. Donaldson’s channel reportedly gained over 2 million new subscribers on Saturday alone, the largest single-day spike in its history.

Donaldson’s success has been driven by his ambitious and costly stunts, which have included giving away private islands, staging real-life recreations of popular media like Squid Game, paying for a free children’s hospital, building wells in Africa, and burying himself alive. He is well-known for his philanthropic giveaways, having distributed millions of dollars to participants in his viral videos.

According to Forbes, Donaldson’s net worth is estimated to be around $500 million, and he topped the magazine’s list of the 50 top creators in 2023, BBC reported.

His influence extends beyond YouTube, having signed a reported 0 million deal with Amazon for a TV series and earning $250,000 from his first video on X, as noted by Elon Musk, who had encouraged him to join the platform.

All this philanthropy has not come without detractors.

Donaldson found himself at the center of controversy following his ambitious $300,000 project to fund the construction of 100 wells across multiple African countries, including Cameroon, Kenya, Somalia, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. The initiative, aimed at providing clean drinking water to an estimated 500,000 people, drew criticism from some activists and journalists, particularly in Kenya, who said they were concerned about the unintended implications and impacts of Donaldson’s actions, according to the New York Post.

I bet Bill Gates is sitting in his lair fuming about how @MrBeast is building wells in Africa undoing all his work in trying to depopulate Africa.

Everyone should find it incredibly weird how MrBeast is able to do immense good like this for poor children in Africa this easily,… pic.twitter.com/YzGPohcgBZ

— Inversionism (@Inversionism) November 5, 2023

Saran Kaba Jones, the founder of FACE Africa, a non-profit organization focused on clean water access, said, “I’ve been doing this for 15 years, but we’ve been struggling to continue the work because funding, awareness, and advocacy all take work. Overnight, this person comes along, who happens to be a white male figure with a huge platform, and all of a sudden, he gets all of the attention. It’s kind of frustrating, but it’s also understanding the nature of how the world is.”

Other critics said Donaldson’s project put the Kenyan government in a negative light, highlighting their failures and enhancing stereotypes that African nations are dependent on philanthropic handouts.

The sentiment aligned with liberal talking points about the “white savior” complex, which criticizes efforts by affluent Westerners to help impoverished communities as attempts to “rescue” them without fully understanding the local context and existing initiatives.

Donaldson acknowledged the anticipated backlash, stating, “I already know I’m gonna get canceled because I uploaded a video helping people, and to be 100 percent clear, I don’t care.”

Taylor Lorenz is mad that @MrBeast built wells in Africa for people who didn’t have clean water. pic.twitter.com/O3VanI5MXe

— Chaya Raichik (@ChayaRaichik10) November 8, 2023

It reminds one of the words of Mother Teresa, who said, “Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.”

While Donaldson is clearly no Mother Teresa, the principle still stands.

It may suit the outrage culture to criticize his efforts, but tell that to the little boy who can focus on his education instead of walking miles to get water from a dirty stream. Organizations that truly care about the welfare of these nations shouldn’t be concerned about who gets the credit.

While bureaucracy twiddles its thumbs and says, “After you, after you,” doers change the world in whatever way they can.

Somehow, no one was worried about the “savior” complex when Oprah built her Leadership Academy in South Africa to help impoverished girls.

Does a cup of water taste different depending on the skin color of the person who donated it?

Instead of strutting the red carpet in exorbitantly expensive jewels and outrageous outfits at the Met Gala, it’s refreshing to see someone like Donaldson using his celebrity platform and immense wealth to make a real difference in the world.

While some critics deride Donaldson’s extravagant giveaway videos as “inspiration porn,” as an op-ed in The Kansan termed it, I’d much rather my children be inspired by extravagant philanthropy that changes lives than the other kind of porn that is so prevalent on the internet.

The dethroning of T-Series marks a significant shift in the YouTube landscape, with an independent creator surpassing a corporate entity for the platform’s most coveted subscriber milestone.

While the discourse around his motivations and cultural “insensitivity” will likely continue, Donaldson’s success proves that even in this hypersexual, entertainment-hungry culture, there are still millions of people who are inspired by outrageous generosity and good, clean fun.