The YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson, more widely known as MrBeast, is suing the company behind his fast food chain MrBeast Burger for making “inedible” food.
The lawsuit, filed on Monday, claims the company has “irreparably harmed” his reputation. He has asked a judge to give him the right to terminate the arrangement, claiming the company is serving low-quality products.
In response, lawyers for Virtual Dining Concepts said Donaldson’s legal claims were “riddled with false statements and inaccuracies”.
Donaldson, who is the biggest individual YouTuber in the world with more than 171 million subscribers, partnered with Virtual Dining Concepts in 2020 to launch MrBeast Burger out of “ghost kitchens” that exclusively prepare orders for food delivery services.
MrBeast Burger orders are produced at 40 locations in the UK and 1,700 in the US.
Fans of MrBeast have posted images on Twitter of raw meat in burgers. Customer reviews referring to their meals as “a terrible meme burger”, “disgusting” and “revolting” were included in the lawsuit.
Donaldson told a fan in June that he was disappointed with the MrBeast Burger offering. “Yeah, the problem with Beast Burger is I can’t guarantee the quality of the order. When working with other restaurants it’s impossible to control it sadly,” he said on Twitter.
The lawsuit claimed: “Virtual Dining Concepts was more focused on rapidly expanding the business as a way to pitch the virtual restaurant model to other celebrities for its own benefit, it was not focused on controlling the quality of the MrBeast Burger customer experience and products.”
In response to the lawsuit, lawyers for Virtual Dining Concepts said: “The complaint is riddled with false statements and inaccuracies and is a thinly veiled attempt to distract from Mr Donaldson’s and Beast Investments’ breaches of the agreements between the parties, including Mr Donaldson’s recent false, disparaging statements regarding the MrBeast brand and VDC.”
They accused Donaldson of filing this “meritless” lawsuit after VDC refused to accede to his “bullying tactics.”
At the launch of Donaldson’s first physical burger restaurant in September, thousands of fans went to a New Jersey mall.
Donaldson launched his “Beast Philanthropy” YouTube channel in 2021, which has more than 10 million subscribers. He does huge cash giveaways and other charitable acts that include rebuilding homes for tornado survivors and undertaking random acts of kindness.
