MrBeast Baffled By Death Hoax
Jimmy "MrBeast" Donaldson has been pretty candid about his mortality. For a guy who spends a good amount of his time giving money away and arranging huge stunts for the entertainment of his YouTube followers, he seems to be pretty aware that nothing lasts forever. Maybe that's why he had such an amusing reaction when a viral post proclaimed that he had passed on from this world and into YouTuber Valhalla this week.
Death hoaxes for streamers and content creators are surprisingly nothing new. A few years back, rumors abounded that Tyler "Ninja" Blevins had passed away after a battle with the fictional/pun-worthy disease called "ligma." Gabbie Hanna fans thought she had died when "#RIPGabbieHanna" started trending on Twitter in 2021. Heck, some streamers have even allegedly faked their own deaths, just so they could step away from the limelight and stop playing "Grand Theft Auto" roleplay all the time.
Sometimes, someone out there gets the idea to drum up some attention on social media by pretending a popular content creator has bought the farm, and it seems that's what happened in this instance. An inexplicable post from Twitter user @ExtremeBlitz__ was posted on March 15 featuring a black and white photo of MrBeast, along with a "heartfelt" caption bidding the YouTuber a fond farewell.
I cant believe mrbeast died... gone too soon man.. you'll never be forgotten you legend ❤️ pic.twitter.com/3Fr4h3PQAy
— duck (@ExtremeBlitz__) March 15, 2023
Within a matter of hours, the post spread like wildfire. As of this writing, it has been retweeted by over seven thousand accounts and viewed well over 13 million times. Naturally, this eventually got back to MrBeast, who had a characteristically baffled and sarcastic response.
Twitter users pay their 'respects' to MrBeast
The day after the fake eulogy had started to gain traction online, MrBeast replied to the post and asked, "Why does this have 100,000 likes? Lol."
Judging from the tone of the comment, it seems like MrBeast is more amused than mad about the tweet carrying tidings of his death. However, he clearly wants to interrogate the fact that so many people seemingly got a kick out of it, too. In response to MrBeast's question, Dogecoin creator Billy Markus responded plainly, "people wanted to pay their respects to you after your death."
Not to be outdone, @ExtremeBlitz__ leaned even further into the joke, insisting that some kind of miracle had occurred for MrBeast to have seen this post:
bro came back to life just to reply to my tweet 😭💀 (ill delete it if you send me $10000)
— duck (@ExtremeBlitz__) March 16, 2023
However, it doesn't look like too many people out there truly believed that MrBeast had passed away. Seemingly in on the joke, a number of replies are centered around sending fake condolences and sharing pictures of the YouTuber. Others pretended to speculate about how MrBeast had died. One particularly popular response referenced the aforementioned Ninja "Ligma" hoax, asking if MrBeast had gone the same way.
Like a twisted internet-era take on Tom Sawyer spying on his own funeral, MrBeast got to see a little bit of what it will be like on Twitter after he's gone. Of course, if more people had really bought into the prank, it probably would be a very different reaction. Regardless of the response, MrBeast actually does have some plans in order for when he eventually shuffles off this mortal coil, and he's extensively discussed them in the past.
What MrBeast wants to happen when he dies
Last year, MrBeast revealed a few different plans that he's put together in the event of his death. The first is a stunt that will determine who gets to take over his channel. During an appearance on the "Flagrant" podcast, he revealed that a handful of his friends will undertake a challenge in the event of his death, during which they will all place their hands on his gravestone. The last one person standing with their hand on the marker will be awarded his channel. MrBeast explained that the video has all been planned out, with the only step remaining to be to finalize the participants' names and to shoot it on the most dour of occasions.
"That is happening," MrBeast claimed. "Mark my words ... I'm serious. I don't give a f**k how much you guys are crying. Put their f**king hands on the tombstone and give the channel to whoever wins, okay?"
But MrBeast also has plans beyond that. During an appearance on the "Lex Fridman Podcast," the YouTuber revealed that, given enough time before his death, he'd endeavor to create a backlog of videos that would be scheduled and continue to post well after he's gone.
Fans may not have lost the YouTuber just yet, but it sounds like he's got it all figured out for when that sad day comes.