Every single week it seems that another internet personality, whether it’s a YouTuber, TikToker, or other live streamer is being cancelled. Is it cancel culture being out of control over spicy memes? Are they being “Me too’d” by a hellacious Amber Heard level ex?
No, they’re being exposed for being at best, creepy, with their child audiences, or in some cases, flat out committing rape.
Mr. Beast is the largest individual creator on the platform. His content, mainly geared at children and tweens, routinely gets ratings that eclipse that of not only any cable news channel, but of the NFL, NASCAR, and the “Game of Thrones” series finale. To deny the cultural juggernaut he is would be foolish.
To the uninitiated, most of his content is at worst, silly or eyeroll-inducing with titles like “RECREATING SQUID GAMES IN REAL LIFE” or “SPENDING 24 HOURS IN A WALMART”. You certainly aren’t becoming more enlightened from watching this, but it can be considered benign enough for most tweens at least.
However, that isn’t to say that the channel has been without controversy. Enter Chris Tyson. He seemed to be a childhood friend of Jimmy, aka the titular “Mr. Beast”. He seemed like the quintessential North Carolina country boy. He drove a big truck, had a wife and family, and in the earlier days of Mr. Beast’s fame we could all naively look and think that this was just a nice kid and his friends having fun doing crazy stuff on a camera.
The first yellow flag went up when Chris decided they were now “Ava” and a woman. Since Mr. Beast’s cast was all male this threw the dynamic off enough where no one would have blamed Jimmy for recasting the role, but when Chris left his wife and kids, this should have been a clear sign of a lack of character that shouldn’t be propped up on a YouTube channel directed at children.
People uncovered numerous tweets where Chris had discussed liking “loli” content, which once again, should have raised enough of a red flag for dismissal. For the fortunate who are not chronically online, this content often depicts a demon, vampire, or some other figure who, in theory, is hundreds of years old, but in appearance, appears as a child, sometimes as young as four years old. It’s animated, and falls into the category of animated porn known as hentai.
Yes, I am sorry if you didn’t already know this and I have now introduced you to this content’s existence.
Mr. Beast and his crew are beloved by millions of children. Any discussion of porn is inappropriate for this age, but specifically getting into porn that simulates being with someone underage should have been the sign to get rid of “Ava”. But Mr. Beast dug in, defending his friend. Loyalty to a friend should generally be commended, but not at the expense of your child audience.
Of course Ava became an avatar for the trans community, with anyone who dared to say anything negative about Ava, or their transition, to be labeled as transphobic. Anyone who dared to bring up Chris’s abandoned wife and child was painted as a bigot. Because in today’s society, how dare anyone sacrifice even one iota of their “happiness” or being their “authentic self” in order to protect their wife and child.
Like most controversies, most people moved on, that is, until a former Mr. Beast employee came out and alleged that Chris had been inappropriate with an underage fan, grooming the child starting at the age of 13. The ex-employee provided proof of their employment, but did not provide any evidence regarding the minor.
However, only a few short hours later, Chris was on Twitter with a statement 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. 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.”
IF anyone was hurt, or merely offended, Chris offers their apology.
Sorry bud, not good enough. You have damaged the life of not only your own child, but of whoever this victim is. How many victims are there Chris? Is this just the beginning?
Chris isn’t alone either. Another YouTuber, Cody Ko, who had tried to recraft his image as family friendly married good guy, has been accused of having sex with Tana Mongeau when Mongeau was 16 and he was 25.
For the record, this happened in Florida where the age of consent is 18. So not only is it creepy, it is a crime.
Another “family friendly” YouTuber, Colleen Ballinger aka Miranda Sings, was notoriously roasted after being outed for having weird group chats with fans where she would tell them about her marital problems, had sent at least one underage fan lingerie, and more.
Is it time we start looking at adults who make content geared towards children with a leery eye and wonder what it is that is so appealing for an adult to act like they’re 12? Is it mental illness? Is it evil? Probably both, I’d say.
So parents, stay vigilant. Your kids are being served up to these creeps on a silver platter called social media. You wouldn’t let some random adult hang out in your kid’s bedroom for hours, so why are you letting these YouTubers do it virtually?
And YouTubers, for the love of all that is good in the world, step. away. from. the. underaged. Is it really that hard to maintain appropriate boundaries? Do you really need to be sending DMs to 14-year-olds? Here’s a tip: if you wouldn’t say it to a kid in front of their parents, don’t say it online.
It’s not rocket science. It’s basic human decency. Get it together, or get off the internet. The children of America deserve better than this dumpster fire of an entertainment landscape. Let’s give it to them.