MrBeast Says He Was Almost On The Titan Sub (And The Internet Isn't Buying It)
Last week, the world was glued to the developing story of OceanGate's Titan submersible, which went missing in the North Atlantic Ocean. The craft, which contained five civilians, was sent down to explore the wreckage of the famed ocean liner Titanic, but lost contact with the surface less than two hours into the expedition. And as it turns out, there was a brief period of time during which YouTuber MrBeast might have counted himself as a passenger aboard the ill-fated sub.
Search and rescue teams worked tirelessly to locate Titan and its passengers, as the submersible had an oxygen supply that would have lasted into Thursday, so long as the sub remained intact. Tragically, debris belonging to the craft was located on Thursday, leading the Coast Guard to conclude that there had been a "catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber" shortly into the dive. All five explorers aboard Titan died instantly when the craft imploded.
Over the weekend, as the world processed the news of Titan's fate, MrBeast took to Twitter to reveal that he came perilously close to joining one of these expeditions, but declined the opportunity. He posted a screenshot of a text message that read, "Also, I'm going to the Titanic in a submarine late this month. The team would be stoked to have you along."
It's worth noting that this would have apparently been an expedition that took place prior to the one that ended in Titan's destruction. In other words, had MrBeast gone for a dive with OceanGate, he might have made it safely back to land, but it's impossible to say for sure. Another thing that seems impossible, at least according to dozens of Twitter users, is MrBeast's post itself. One detail of the screenshot has denizens of the internet skeptical of his story.
MrBeast's Titan sub text gets roasted by Twitter
It's not a new idea for a celebrity to experience a brush with death like this. For instance, Ryan Reynolds experienced a failed parachute while skydiving, while Seth MacFarlane almost boarded American Airlines Flight 11 on Sept. 11, 2001. So why is it that people on the internet are giving a side-eye to MrBeast's anecdote about being invited onto the Titan submersible? Well, a number of commenters have pointed out that the text in MrBeast's post is blue, which iMessage users know means that this is message that would have been sent by whomever took the screenshot.
With that in mind, several people have mentioned to MrBeast that it looks like he was the one sending the invitation, rather than being the one who was asked to come along for the expedition. As Tom Warren of The Verge asked, "how did you manage to receive a blue message on iMessage?" Some commenters even implied that the YouTuber had sent a text to himself in order to make it seem like he was invited, fabricating the entire story.
This has naturally led to Twitter users clowning on MrBeast's original post, with some even posting texts they've sent to themselves with various joke invites. YouTuber and digital marketer Liam James Kay posted a fake invite from Elon Musk, asking if he could go on a rocket ship to Mars, while comedian and content creator Kurtis Conner posted an invitation to board the original Titanic.
I was invited 111 years ago to ride the titanic, I said no. Kind of scary that I could have been on it pic.twitter.com/4Qg7hL8xgr
— kurtis conner (@kurtisconner) June 26, 2023
It didn't take long for MrBeast to figure out that people weren't taking him at his word, and he hopped back on Twitter to explain why his original post looked questionable.
MrBeast explains the origin of the Titan sub text message
After being asked outright why he'd make up something like this, MrBeast stuck to his guns and explained that this text was a screenshot from the friend who invited him on an expedition. The screenshot was apparently sent to him by this friend, then reposted.
My friend sent me the screenshot of when he invited me. Didn't think to scroll up and screenshot our old texts myself.
— MrBeast (@MrBeast) June 25, 2023
This explanation apparently did not do too much to clear the air, as a number of commenters asked MrBeast to prove his story by posting a screenshot of his side of the conversation. The YouTuber has yet to respond, which seems to imply that he's done talking about this particular subject. The folks doubting the veracity of MrBeast's story are unlikely to get a satisfying answer anytime soon.
Even some of the people who are accepting MrBeast's story at face value have found other issues to take with it. A few commenters have accused MrBeast of taking a tragedy and using it to draw attention to himself, while others have wondered if he's going to try to make a video about his near-miss.