MrBeast warned against hiring celebrity lawyer following abuse allegations against YouTuber

PR experts have warned that MrBeast’s decision to hire a celebrity lawyer could make things worse.

It comes amid ongoing controversy surrounding the MrBeast brand. Allegations surfaced online that MrBeast’s friend and collaborator Ava Kris Tyson had groomed a minor; both have denied the allegations but that's not stopped MrBeast from saying he has "seen enough online and taken immediate action to remove Ava from the company, my channel and any association with MrBeast" and that a third party investigation will take place.

MrBeast recently promised a “full investigation” following a number of controversies surrounding his brand and YouTube page, a verified email previously showed.

After the allegations, MrBeast, real name Jimmy Donaldson, hired the lawyer Alex Spiro who previously represented the likes of Elon Musk, Alec Baldwin and Megan Thee Stallion.

Acting on behalf of MrBeast, Spiro threatened legal action against DogPack404 by sending a cease and desist letter. It comes after DogPack404, a YouTuber and reportedly a former employee of MrBeast, posted a YouTube video claiming that MrBeast was faking giveaways and staging content.

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However, PR experts have claimed that hiring Spiro could be doing more harm than good for MrBeast.

UK publicist Haddy Folivi spoke to Business Insider and claimed that doing so was the “worst” response MrBeast could have chosen – claiming that the plan to “fix the issue and make it go away” would not work.

Laura Perkes, who is a Public Relations Specialist and founder of PR with Perkes, said that MrBeast was “deflecting and passing blame onto others” by preventing “people from sharing their version of events”.

International PR expert Kellie Whitehead dubbed MrBeast’s hiring of Spiro as a sign he had cemented himself “in the domain of the superrich and powerful”, and said fans could expect a “wall of expensive silence” moving forward.

Perkes added: “Influencers need their fans; without them, they’re no longer influencers, and without them, they’re no longer a brand with products or services that people want to buy.”

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