MrBeast Follows The Lead of Dave Chappelle, Bill Burr In Selling Out To Saudi Arabia

American YouTube giant Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson is opening a theme park in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh. Presumably, the next season of Beast Games will feature contestants competing to win the grand prize of getting their own passport back.

Last month, American A-list entertainers received a crash-course on how the stateside public perceives the authoritarian rulers of Saudi Arabia when they returned home from the state-organized Riyadh Comedy Festival. Comedy legends such as Bill Burr, Dave Chappelle and Kevin Hart faced mass outrage from their fandoms, both for agreeing to perform at the pleasure of a monarchy that regularly imprisons, tortures and executes journalists, and for their pathetic, bratty and self-aggrandizing defenses of the checks they received from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

For figures like Burr, who previously served as a mouthpiece for anti-billionaire, anti-megalomaniac anger in America before his Riyadh trip, the damage to the Riyadh performers’ reputations continues as fan fury shows no signs of slowing down. 

Many former followers have accused Burr and his brethren of selling their souls to an oppressive foreign government. Upon the opening of Donaldson’s “Beast Land” theme park in Riyadh, the YouTuber probably expects that he won’t face nearly as much heat as the comics who came before him, seeing as his followers can’t find Saudi Arabia on a map and he never had a soul to sell in the first place.

When followers asked Donaldson why he would open a theme park based on his career in a country that many humanitarian groups consider to be the slavery capital of the world, Donaldson wrote of the Beast Land location, "Middle of the world because a majority of my audience is outside America and we have a big middle eastern fan base. Wanted to give them a chance to participate!" However, Donaldson's fans didn't seem convinced of his reasoning.

“i don’t think that’s really why you’re going to riyadh, saudi arabia for this,” one follower replied.

“Ah damn my guess was 'cheap labor'” another fan snarked.

One more user chimed in, “'Middle of the world' Jimmy the world is a globe.”

Critically, MrBeast signed a contract with the Saudi government to produce exclusive content and launch global-scale experiences as part of their “Riyadh Season” entertainment campaign back in May of this year, long before the Royal Family revealed the line-up of comedians who would ruin their public images at the Riyadh Comedy Festival. Beast Land is likely a contractual obligation, one that Donaldson entered into before he knew how American audiences felt about their entertainers taking blood money from ruthless despots.

On November 13th, Donaldson and the Saudi Royal Family's General Entertainment Authority will find out if Beast Land will really be able to entice MrBeast to pack a suitcase and fly to a place where they might end up inside one.