Author: G. Li, Silicon Valley Chapter

Three years ago, a controversy arose after Rosanna Pansino spoke out against Mr. Beast following the Hide and Seek video he posted on December 18, 2021. Although a bit of old news now, I would like to compile my thoughts on this situation and how unfairly Rosanna Pansino was treated. 

In this video, Mr. Beast had 10 YouTubers play hide and week, with the winner walking away with a million dollars. Allegedly, she had placed third, but the video was edited in a way that made it seem like she placed lower. In the video, it was edited in such a way where we saw her getting cut from the game earlier than a good amount of other people, and she provides evidence that backs up her claim that she did in-fact place third. She also points out that YouTuber Quackity was also edited in such a way, even though he actually placed second. Quackity confirmed this. 

Following her call-out of Mr. Beast, Rosanna Pansino received an onslaught of hate from Mr. Beast fans, including even death threats, claiming that she was “salty” and was “petty”. Not only was this degree of hatred completely unjustified, unreasonable, and damaging, I would like to argue that her claims had much merit. 

Her claims were very likely not falsified, and the fact that Mr. Beast edited the video in a way that made other creators seem like they survived longer, specifically YouTubers with higher subscriber counts, highlights an ulterior motive to push aside other YouTubers and the work they put in to create a narrative that more subscribers means they’re better. In this scenario, he made Logan Paul, a youtuber with more subscribers that Rosanna Pansino, look like he was better at the game than Rosanna Pansino, creating an intentionally misleading narrative against those with fewer subscribers. 

And even if this was untrue, and his team didn’t have a ploy to make creators with more subscribers look better, it still is unfair to have edited this video nonetheless, as her hard work in the challenge wasn’t properly represented. 

Additionally, Mr. Beast has tried to brand himself as a philanthropist, and in recent years has led campaigns to build wells in Africa, save endangered animals, etc. However, instances like this one, as well as his recent outburst on Twitter about the fact that Rolling Stone ranked another influencer, Caleb Hearon, who has fewer followers than Mr. Beast, higher on their list of most influential social media stars. These two events may provide insight into just how follower, ranking and clout-obsessed Mr, Beast likely actually is, which diminish his credibility as a philanthropist as well.   

Now, you may have these questions about the situation– and here are my answers:

1. Why did Rosanna Pansino apologize if she wasn’t lying?
   1. She only apologized because she was receiving DEATH THREATS by diehard Mr. Beast stans. She did it to protect her mental psyche. 
2. It’s just a game, why does she care so much?
   1. As mentioned earlier, her hard work was misrepresented. It’s pretty upsetting if you think from her standpoint, and if you see who was “given” her placement (Logan Paul), it seems very motivated to rake in more subscribers at her expense. Also, if you were one of the people that sent her extensive amounts of hate, you should ask yourself the same question! Why do you care so much about a statement that she said to the point where you are sending death threats and insulting her with a barrage of hateful comments?  

Is it a bit strange that she didn’t confront Mr. Beast and instead only exposed him online? Yes. But we don’t know what is happening behind the scenes, and I think Mr. Beast still should have just came out with an apology. Instead, he stayed silent. 

Anyways, thank you for listening to my rant about an incredibly outdated situation. Peace out.