Following allegations that MrBeast’s one-time co-host Ava Kris Tyson groomed a minor years ago, the popular YouTube personality has cut ties with her and reprimanded her for her “unacceptable acts.” MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, has since hired a third-party investigator in the hopes that they’ll “ensure” he has clarity on all the facts.
In light of the allegations against her, Tyson shared her own statement, announcing her intent to step away from the channel and social media, claiming, “I would like to apologize for any of my past behavior or comments if it hurt or offended anyone. It was not my intent.” Despite this, she asserts that she “never groomed anyone,” and suggests that her previous humor and the allegations are being lumped together “to create a narrative that [her] behavior extended beyond bad edgy jokes.”
The allegations largely stem from things which took place on a Discord server in which Tyson appeared to have direct communication with a number of fans of both her and MrBeast. Tyson appears to have made a number of inappropriate comments and “edgy jokes” in this server, and during this time she seems to have had a more direct relationship with one minor in particular, named LavaGS, according to a Rolling Stone investigation.
According to the article, LavaGS, who is now 20 years old, has a history with Tyson going back several years. When Tyson was in her early 20s and LavaGS was a teenager, they would regularly communicate via Discord and Twitter, often playing games and exchanging messages containing crude and sexual humor. Eventually, LavaGS was even able to get a job working for MrBeast’s gaming-centric channel, MrBeastGaming, through Tyson. As a production assistant for the channel, LavaGS moderated aspects of the channel, appeared in some videos, and even flew out to MrBeast’s “compound” in North Carolina.
Since the allegations against Tyson were made in June by a right-wing creator, and subsequently picked up by numerous other YouTuber content creators a month later, LavaGS has spoken up a number of times. At first, he came to Tyson’s defense, saying, “These videos are massive lies and twisting the truth. Ava never did anything wrong and just made a few edgy jokes. I was never exploited or taken advantage of.”
Since those initial claims, though, LavaGS has publicly commended Donaldson’s actions against Tyson, and clarified that while he doesn’t believe he was groomed, “there is still alot of other allegations that deserve to [be] investigated thoroughly.”
Since the allegations went wide, a number of YouTube and streaming personalities have spoken up and, perhaps unsurprisingly, some people online have seized on the controversy as an opportunity to deploy transphobic rhetoric against Tyson. A large number of responses to both MrBeast and Tyson’s statements are composed of posts deadnaming Tyson and claims that her identity as a trans woman plays some role in her inappropriate relationship with a minor.
Kotaku has reached out to MrBeast for comment.
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