Following allegations that former MrBeast co-host Ava Kris Tyson groomed a minor years ago, popular YouTube personality has cut ties with her and reprimanded her for her “unacceptable actions.” MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, has since hired an outside investigator in the hope that he will “ensure” he has all the facts straight.
In view of the allegations against her Tyson shared her own statementannounced her intention to step away from the channel and social media, claiming: “I want to apologize for my behavior or comments in the past if they have hurt or offended anyone. That was not my intention.” Despite this, she claims that she has “never groomed anyone,” and suggests that her past humor and the allegations are being lumped together “to create a narrative that [her] Behavior went beyond bad, snarky jokes.”
The allegations largely stem from things that took place on a Discord server where Tyson was communicating directly with a number of fans of her and MrBeast. Tyson appears to have made a number of inappropriate comments and “provocative jokes” on that server, and during that time she appears to have had a more direct relationship with a minor named LavaGS, according to A Rolling Stone Investigation.
According to the article, LavaGSwho is now 20 years old, has been in a long-term relationship with Tyson. When Tyson was in his early 20s and LavaGS was a teenager, they communicated regularly on Discord and Twitter, often playing games and exchanging messages with vulgar and sexual humor. Eventually, through Tyson, LavaGS was even able to get a job on MrBeast’s gaming channel, MrBeastGaming. As a production assistant for the channel, LavaGS hosted aspects of the channel, appeared in some videos, and even flew to MrBeast’s “estate” in North Carolina.
Since the allegations against Tyson were made by a right-wing YouTuber in June and picked up by numerous other YouTubers a month later, LavaGS has spoken out several times. First, he defended Tyson, saying: “These videos are massive lies and distort the truth. Ava never did anything wrong and was just making some cheeky jokes. I was never taken advantage of or taken advantage of.”
Since these initial allegations, LavaGS has publicly praised Donaldson’s actions against Tyson and made it clear that while he does not believe he was manipulated, “there are many other allegations that deserve to be [be] thoroughly investigated.”
Since the allegations were far-reaching, Youtube And Streaming personalities have spoken out and, perhaps unsurprisingly, some people online have used the controversy as an opportunity to use transphobic rhetoric against Tyson. Many responses to MrBeast and Tyson’s statements consist of posts that do not mention Tyson’s name and claim that her identity as a trans woman played a role in her inappropriate relationship with a minor.
My city asked MrBeast for a comment.
