YouTube giant MrBeast has been getting some flak on Twitter for claiming that he declined an invitation to join a Titan expedition earlier this month.
“I said no,” MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, said on Sunday in a tweet that came with an awkwardly cropped screenshot of an iMessage of what’s supposed to be the invitation he turned down. “Kind of scary that I could have been on it.”
People on the platform were quick to point out that the screenshot was blue, indicating that it was sent and not received by the person taking the screenshot. Donaldson responded saying that it was sent to him by the person who invited him, and that he just didn’t think to scroll up his messages.
He did not say who invited him, or whether the expedition he was invited to was the same one that imploded last week, killing all five of its passengers.
Notably, Donaldson also didn’t say why he said no, considering his reputation for creating over-the-top, sometimes life-threatening challenges featuring himself, his friends, and once in a while strangers for views and follows on YouTube, where he currently has 163 million subscribers.
He’s not the only one who’s claimed that he’d been invited to OceanGate’s Titan expedition. English actor and documentary filmmaker Ross Kemp also claimed that he declined an offer to go on the Titan to shoot a film last year when his production company warned against it, raising concerns about the submersible vessel not meeting safety standards.
There are many others, and like Donaldson’s claim, it’s hard to prove whether they’re all true. Or if, as one Twitter user said, the tragedy has just become the 9/11 story time for rich people, pertaining to how everyone seems to know someone or is someone who was supposed to have been at the World Trade Center when the 9/11 tragedy struck.
Apart from death-defying content, Donaldson is also known for his philanthropic efforts, and lately for venturing into the food business.
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