The internal investigation MrBeast commissioned after a former employee was accused of grooming a minor has concluded and the YouTube star is sharing the results.
On Friday, MrBeast, aka Jimmy Donaldson, 26, posted the findings sent to him by Alex Spiro of the law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP, an outside attorney Donaldson hired to investigate allegations of sexual misconduct happening at his company.
“A three-month investigation into allegations regarding my company has concluded. The lawfirm/investigators reviewed millions of documents/messages and conducted 39 interviews,” MrBeast wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “I was asked to refrain from making public statements to enable a detailed and unbiased investigation. Below are their conclusions.”
In the letter shared by MrBeast dated Nov. 1, Spiro addressed not only the allegations that arose after MrBeast’s former co-host Ava Tyson, 28, was accused of sending inappropriate messages to a then-13-year-old when she was 20, but also claims made by one of Donaldson’s former employees that the YouTube phenom knowingly hired registered sex offenders.
The law firm’s investigation, which was commissioned in late July and cost “millions” of dollars, according to sources, found no evidence that either allegation held merit.
“Allegations of sexual misconduct (e.g., pedophilia, grooming, child pornography, etc.) between Company employees and minors are without basis,” Spiro stated in his letter. “The allegations were soundly rejected, including by alleged victims.”
Spiro also wrote that “allegations of the Company knowingly employing individuals with proclivities or histories towards illegal or questionable legal conduct are similarly without basis.”
The scope of the internal probe stretched beyond just the public allegations made against MrBeast. A source told The Post that Donaldson and his recently installed CEO Jeffrey Housenbold were keen to look into all possible misconduct at the company and so expanded the investigation.
As a result, other instances of less severe misconduct were discovered. “Several isolated instances of workplace harassment and misconduct were identified during the investigation,” Spiro stated. “The company was informed of such conduct and took swift and appropriate actions to address the incidents, including, where necessary, disciplining or letting go of implicated individuals.”
A source told The Post that those let go included individuals from the senior executive level to middle management and individual contributors. “Individuals were let go regardless of position or tenure or seniority,” the insider said.
The workplace harassment and misconduct unearthed by the investigation included inappropriate and sexual jokes being made in the workplace, an employee asking a colleague out on a date multiple times despite being repeatedly rebuffed and employees dating without informing higher-ups, according to an insider.
One source described some of the misconduct as “frat boy locker room behavior” that was “inappropriate” and “cannot be tolerated.” The source stressed that the findings did not include any misconduct that would “border on things like assault or rape.”
In Spiro’s letter, the attorney noted that MrBeast’s company has “grown exceedingly quickly from a YouTube start-up comprised of a group of talented young individuals to a much larger entity,” and that “it is not uncommon that policies and practices essential in a mature company would lag behind commercial success.”
Spiro also wrote: “It is clear that the Company is committed to remedying historical issues and creating a mature culture where problematic behaviors are not tolerated as it enters this new phase.”
According to the investigation’s final report, MrBeast’s company is “already implemented or is in the process of implementing” changes as a result of the findings.
Those changes included “sending a clear message regarding tone at the top,” bringing on a new CEO, Chief People Officer, and General Counsel and soon-to-be-hired CFO, instituting “mandatory corporate training for all employees,” “developing new policies codified in an employee handbook,” creating an anonymous hotline for employees to report alleged misconduct within the company, “swiftly terminating individuals who violated company policy regardless of their position or level” and “identifying additional employees for training and executive coaching to address professionalism and compliance with company policy.”
At the outset of the investigation, Spiro asked MrBeast’s former employee, Dawson French, who goes by the DogPack404 on YouTube, to “cease making public allegations against the company, as those were the topic of an ongoing investigation.”
French has accused MrBeast of hosting “illegal lotteries” for false engagement online. He also posted a video on YouTube of him interviewing another former MrBeast employee, who made the allegation that the mogul knowingly hired a registered sex offender (an allegation the investigation refuted).
Spiro and his colleagues also asked employees to not publicly comment on any of the allegations made against MrBeast and the company “to ensure the investigation yielded accurate information and that witnesses were not tainted.”
The alleged victim at the center of the grooming allegations made against Tyson, a person known online as Lava, was among those interviewed and denied the grooming allegations, a source told The Post. Lava has also publicly stated they do not believe they were groomed.
The allegations against Tyson were initially made by a third party, a YouTuber who goes by Prism42.
“I would like to apologize for any of my past behavior or comments if it hurt or offended anyone,” Tyson said in a statement posted on July 23. “It was not my intent.”
“Seeing recent events we’ve mutually decided it’s best I permanently step away from all things MrBeast and social media to focus on my family and mental health.”
Tyson, however, denied the grooming allegations made against her. “I want to add, I never groomed anyone. The person who gets brought up in these accusations has vocally supported that they are false,” she said, referring to Lava.
Donaldson announced the internal investigation the day after Tyson shared her response.
“Over the last few days, I’ve become aware of the serious allegations of Ava Tyson’s behavior online and I am disgusted and opposed to such unacceptable acts,” he wrote on X. “During that time, I have been focused on hiring an independent third party to conduct a thorough investigation to ensure I have all the facts.
“That said, I’ve seen enough online and taken immediate action to remove Ava from the company, my channel, and any association with MrBeast,” he added. “I do not condone or support any of the inappropriate actions.
“I will allow the independent investigators the necessary time to conduct a comprehensive investigation and will take any further actions based on their findings.”
Lava responded to MrBeast’s post, writing on X, “I commend @MrBeast for taking this situation seriously and hiring a 3rd party investigator while also taking the appropriate actions of cutting ties with Ava. While the allegations involving my name aren’t true, I feel there is still alot of other allegations that deserve to investigated thoroughly.”
Two days later, after reviewing messages from a Discord server that were at the heart of allegations made against Tyson, Lava provided an updated statement.
“Based on the recent screenshots and messages I would like to say a statement about the ‘Discord’. This was 5 or 6 years ago and I thought I had a good memory of situation but I was wrong. After reading the chat logs, this stuff was inappropriate and wrong,” Lava wrote on X.
“I spoke based on my memory of the situation and I still do not remember these conversations but they definitely happened. These conversations should not have happened with people at the age I was at the time, I strongly condemn them.”
