In 2019, he was buying up billboards in support of his friend and fellow YouTuber Felix Kjellberg, better known as PewDiePie. Now, at 262 million subscribers, he’s just four million subs behind the channel of T-Series, the Indian music label, and is on track to take over and snatch the top spot in a few weeks.
But he’s warned his fans not to get too aggressive as the competition heats up.
In a recent interview with journalist and YouTuber Jon Youshaei, MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, asked if he had a message for T-Series.
Donaldson said he wanted to make it “very clear” that his fans shouldn’t see this as “this country versus that country.”
He also warned against anyone becoming hateful.
Back in 2019, the race between T-Series and PewDiePie (real name Felix Kjellberg) to get to 100 million subscribers was eagerly viewed across the platform, but the contest was also marred with controversy.
Some of Kjellberg’s fans were accused of racism toward T-Series and its supporters, and Kjellberg himself was criticized for some of the lyrics in his diss track “bitch lasagna” containing offensive stereotypes of Indian people.
Donaldson said he didn’t think PewDiePie was responsible for all the controversy, but he said some people in 2019 “got a little racist.”
“So I’m very cognizant of it, which is why I’m not leaning into it too hard,” he said.
He said he has a huge fan base in India, so this shouldn’t be seen as “India vs. America.”
“I just want to be the most subscribed-to channel,” he said.
Donaldson referenced how the victory would be big for himself and all the other creators who long for the old days of YouTube and have voiced concerns over the platform’s direction for some time.
“Yes, I have a lot of people helping me, but at the end of the day, I started this channel, I’ve been doing it for 14 years,” he said.
While it is thriving from a business standpoint, many long-standing creators are questioning their future on YouTube, citing burnout, a trend toward consumerism, and the platform’s constant changes as reasons they might soon leave.
Donaldson taking the top spot would be a win for all independent creators, he said.
“YouTube runs in my freaking blood,” Donaldson said.
“You know what I mean? And so I do think there’s a little bit of symbolism, that it’s nice that a creator, a homeborn YouTube creator, is the most subscribed-to channel.”
Still, it is important to “draw the lines in the sand,” Donaldson added.
“I need to make it clear: I love India. I have fans in India. You guys are awesome, and it has nothing to do with that,” he said. “A lot of idiots will just start tweeting, ‘India sucks. Go crush ’em, Jimmy.’ And I’m like, OK, just so you know, it’s where a lot of my audience is, but OK.”
