YouTuber MrBeast has claimed he was invited to join other billionaires on the OceanGate Titan vessel, but declined. Taking to Twitter, the video creator - who boasts a whopping 163million subscribers on the platform - uploaded a screenshot of a text message indicating he was asked to join what he described as "the titanic submarine."
In the post, it shows a blue iMessage bubble which reads: "Also, I'm going on to the Titanic in a submarine late this month. The team would be stoked to have you along. I'm sure you're also welcome to join," before being cut off.
In the caption, the YouTuber, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, wrote: "I was invited earlier this month to ride the titanic submarine, I said no. Kind of scary that I could have been on it."
However, the 25-year-old did not specify it was the Titan or who the text was from. The OceanGate Titan tragically faced a "catastrophic implosion" after descending to the site of the Titanic wreckage - located 12,500 feet deep in the North Atlantic sea.
All five passengers are presumed to have died in the incident - including OceanGate CEO and founder Stockton Rush. Others included British businessman Hamish Harding, French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Pakistani billionaire Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood.
In a news conference on Thursday, Rear Admiral John Mauger, who led the search for the missing vessel, confirmed a remotely operated vehicle had found the nose cone of the lost submersible around 1,600ft from the bow of the Titanic on the seafloor.
He added: "On behalf of US Coast Guard and entire unified command, I offer deepest condolences to the families. I can only imagine what this has been like for them, and I hope this discovery provides some solace during this difficult time."
Since sharing the alleged invite on Twitter yesterday, MrBeast's post has been viewed more than 77 million times, with thousands of likes, comments and retweets. One follower, Juniper, asked: "Wait why is the text receipt blue why are you making this up?"
MrBeast himself replied: "My friend sent me the screenshot of when he invited me. Didn’t think to scroll up and screenshot our old texts myself."
Other stars have also claimed they were invited to board the vessel. Ross Kemp says he turned down the OceanGate submersible trip over safety fears.
The ex-EastEnders actor was due to dive on an OceanGate submersible for a documentary. However, he made a U-turn decision after the production company behind the project determined that the vessel was unsafe "on every level".
Representatives for MrBeast have been approached for comment.
