MrBeast Sparks Controversy Over Trapping Man in Burning House

Digital Phablet – Recently, well-known YouTuber MrBeast faced significant criticism after revealing his latest series of daring challenges, which included trapping a man inside a burning house for a shot at winning $500,000.

The challenge featured Eric, a stuntman who explained in the video that his motivation was to earn enough money to improve his parents’ retirement, especially since his father’s health has been declining following a cancer diagnosis.

Entitled “Would You Risk Dying For $500,000?” the 25-minute video showcased seven different challenges, such as being propelled out of a human cannon, jumping through rings of fire, and more. Yet, one particular stunt sparked outrage on social media due to its dangerous nature.

MrBeast faces backlash for confining man inside a burning house

The video opened with MrBeast and his team binding Eric with ropes inside a house set on fire, offering him a chance to win $500,000 before the flames took over. Remarkably, Eric managed to secure $250,000 just moments before the entire house was consumed by fire.

In another challenge, Eric had to throw a grappling hook into a fireworks-filled room to seize $300,000 within five minutes before a massive fireball detonated. Afterwards, he faced a subsequent challenge similar to the previous burning house scenario.

In this instance, the contestant was again trapped inside a burning building with ropes, but MrBeast released him after jokingly pressuring him to comment on his new beef jerky product.

^{Would You Risk Dying For $500,000? (MrBeast/ YouTube)}

Just one day after uploading it to YouTube, the video amassed over 43 million views. This isn’t surprising given that MrBeast is the most subscribed individual on the platform, with over 441 million followers.

On X (formerly Twitter), a social media user compared MrBeast to Jigsaw, a fictional villain from the horror film series Saw. The comment read, “Watching this guy turn into Jigsaw in real time.”

Another viewer remarked, “Wow… MrBeast is really taking ‘high stakes’ to a whole new level,” while someone else said: “For the sake of entertainment, I guess. I thought Idiocracy was the future, but now I realize we’re already living it.”

In response to the criticism, MrBeast issued a statement saying, “If there are concerns about the safety of the contestant, I want to assure everyone that safety is our top priority. Every challenge was tested multiple times by professional stunt performers, and we have a full rescue team on standby, including firefighters, EMTs, and divers, with an ambulance and firetruck ready.”

He continued, “We also had a pyro team managing the fires and multiple fire suppression systems in place for each challenge to ensure we could quickly extinguish any issues. Our stunt coordinator did an exceptional job as always, and none of these safety measures were ever triggered. I just wanted to be transparent since I noticed some concerns!”