MrBeast criticized as a ‘white savior’ by charities over latest video
MrBeast had been labeled a “white savior” by some charity organizations over a YouTube video in which the social media star restores an African orphanage, despite a global campaign to shut orphanages down.
The term “white savior” refers to a trope commonly found in movies in which a white character is portrayed as a messiah-figure who liberates non-white people from dire circumstances, per The Atlantic. MrBeast was previously branded a “white savior” after he provided shoes for children in Africa.
Despite ongoing criticism for his philanthropy efforts, MrBeast has not halted his monthly YouTube clips on Beast Philanthropy, which features videos such as “We Brought Water to Kenya” and “I Helped 2000 Amputees Walk Again.”
In the recent Beast Philanthropy YouTube video, titled “We Adopted an Orphanage,” MrBeast talks about how he saved a deteriorating orphanage in Africa from shutting down. The video claims that the children living at Baphumelele were about to lose their only family.
“To ensure this doesn’t happen, we spent the last six months working tirelessly so that these kids have a safe and clean environment to live in,” MrBeast explains in the video.
The clip features several before and after images of the newly restored orphanage as well as the children experiencing their updated home for the first time.
“Thank you so much for bringing dignity to these children because it has boosted their self-esteem. They live in a better, better place,” Mama Rosie, who runs Baphumelele, says in the YouTube clip.
But the YouTube video — which has already received more than 9.7 million views — sparked backlash from charity Hope and Homes for Children, which claims the video was merely a “ploy for more views,” reported the Daily Mail.
A global effort to get kids out of orphanages and into homes is backed by UNICEF, the United Nations and the European Union, reports The Associated Press. Children in orphanages often face horrific circumstances such as a lack of food, beating, overcrowding and humiliation — and many of them are not orphans, but taken from their families due to poverty.
Lourenza Foghill, from Hope and Homes for Children, accused MrBeast of choosing to “completely ignore” these global efforts, per the Daily Mail.
“Is it a classic case of white saviorism? Arguably yes, but one thing is for sure, Mr.Beast is denying the so-called ‘orphans’ from Baphumele their right to grow up in a family,” Foghill added.
The Lumos Foundation, of which J.K. Rowling is president, also commented on MrBeast’s latest video.
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“Many orphanages across the world are set up to exploit children for profit, exposing children to harm and abuse. By promoting orphanages, even well-intentioned ones, we promote the work of those that are not, continuing the cycle of exploitation,” Lumos wrote in a statement.
“We do not believe that anyone in the video has bad intentions including Mama Rosie and MrBeast,” the statement continued. “But if we are going to support children in the best way possible, we need to move away from promoting the orphanage system and start supporting families with community-based care, so that their children can remain where they belong.”
MrBeast has not responded to any of these comments.
MrBeast called ‘demonic’ after paying for people to get cataracts surgery
In February, MrBeast was called “demonic” after paying for 1,000 people to receive cataracts surgery to restore their sight.
In his YouTube video called “1,000 blind people see for the first time,” MrBeast shows how he provided money for cataract surgery for people in the U.S., Mexico, Honduras, Kenya, Jamaica, Indonesia, Brazil and more.
Dr. Jeff Levenson, who performed the cataract surgery in MrBeast’s video, explained that “Half of all blindness in the world is people who need a 10 minute surgery.” People do not get the surgery because they either cannot afford it or do not have access to it.
“This is the real reason we are doing this, blindness can take away parts of your life,” MrBeast explained after speaking with a man who is homebound and cannot drive due to his blindness.
His video sparked a divide on the ethics that drive philanthropy and what motivates MrBeast’s good deeds. Some people are labeling the YouTube star “demonic” and others claim he exploits people for content, they believe he acts for financial gain.
“He uses vulnerable and desperate people for content. I’m glad 1000 people can see now. Doesn’t make him a good person,” one person tweeted.
The internet piled on the backlash by accusing the YouTube star of “exploit(ing) people for personal financial gain,” and having “demonic energy.”
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How has MrBeast responded to his critics?
MrBeast rarely addresses his critics, but in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, he claimed he has plans to donate all his money throughout his life and poked fun at the backlash he has received on X.
There might be no stopping this YouTube star-turned-philanthropist from donating his money. He reportedly has no intentions of keeping his fortune all to himself.
The 24-year-old YouTuber previously declared on X: “I promise I’m dying with 0 dollars in my bank account and I refuse to live a materialistic life.”
“I want to build other channels like beast gaming and beast reacts so I can run my main channel at a loss and grow as big as possible. And then use my main channel’s influence to one day open hundreds of homeless shelters/food banks and give away all the money,” MrBeast wrote in another tweet from 2020.
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