MrBeast has responded to his critics after his video "curing 1,000 blind people" received negative attention from some viewers.
The 24-year-old, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, is famous for his videos that focus on pricey stunts that often involve giving away large sums of money.
His most recent video "1,000 Blind People See For The First Time" was uploaded on January 28, and at the time of writing has received over 70 million views.
During the video, MrBeast reveals that he would be paying for the cataract removal of 1,000 people who are unable to afford it themselves.
The video features before and after footage of the recipients, alongside the creator giving away large sums of money and presents.
Dr. Jeff Levenson revealed to CNN that he received a call from MrBeast but almost hung up due to not knowing who he was, but when he stayed on the phone he realized that the YouTuber wanted to pay for people's surgery.
"Half of all blindness in the world is people who need a 10-minute surgery," Dr. Levenson told the outlet, before adding that there are "probably" 200 million people around the world in need of the procedure.
It would appear that MrBeast's charitable deeds did not go down well with some viewers, with some slamming him for flaunting his wealth.
One Twitter user shared a video of a live stream discussing the video, and the user stated: "It's deeply frustrating to have to rely on a benevolent content king making feel-good videos, rather than addressing the root causes of these problems."
Another person was particularly brutal when tweeting about the YouTuber, saying: "You are not, & will never be, the last rich person to use their wealth to also buy them social capital, while demanding your position grants you to be worshipped by uncritical impoverished people. Youre [sic] not special, you’re literally textbook rich white man with a god complex."
MrBeast has since responded to his critics in a tweet of his own, where he outlines that he was simply doing a good deed and the backlash is unwarranted.
He said: "Twitter - Rich people should help others with their money. Me - Okay, I’ll use my money to help people and I promise to give away all my money before I die. Every single penny. Twitter - MrBeast bad."
It seems fair to criticize a healthcare system that prices people out of a 10-minute life-changing surgery, but going after a good samaritan seems unfair.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments!
