Featured Image Credit: mrbeast/Instagram
Warning: Beast Games finale spoilers ahead.
MrBeast has clapped back at claims that the winner of Beast Games was 'ripped off.'
With the final episode of Beast Games airing on February 13, the winners have been announced, and the massive prize money has been handed out.
The Amazon show hasn’t been without its fair share of controversy and drama - from contestant allegations of 'chronic mistreatment' and sexual harassment to an ongoing lawsuit against Jimmy 'MrBeast' Donaldson.
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Still, none of that stopped the show from becoming a massive hit, reaching '50 million viewers in its first 25 days on Amazon Prime Video,' making it the platform's most-watched unscripted series ever.
And now, a new tide of controversy is brewing for the world's most popular YouTuber after fans noticed the Beast Games winner didn’t get the full prize money.
“Only” 😭 https://t.co/1h7QYk86LQ
— MrBeast (@MrBeast) February 15, 2025
The final showdown between contestants Jeffrey Randall Allen and Twana Barnett had the former guessing which of the 10 suitcases Barnett had hidden the $10 million check inside.
Choosing correctly, Allen walked away with the cash prize of $10 million - or so it seemed.
According to a report by Watcher Guru, Allen will only take home $5.03 million after federal and state taxes are deducted.
Since Allen lives in California, he’s subject to federal income tax at a 37% top rate ($3,700,000) and California State Tax at a 13.3% top rate ($1,330,000).
That means $4.97 million of his winnings went straight to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), leaving him with just over half of the original prize.
This comes out at $4,970,000 and leaves him with a final take-home after taxes of $5,030,000 - which is basically half of what he probably expected to receive!
Dexerto posted the news on X adding that: "The winner of MrBeast's $10,000,000 'Beast Games' prize will only receive $5.03 million after taxes".
The 26-year-old simply quoted the word "Only" alongside a crying emoji.
And, to be fair… $5 million is still an insane amount of money, but that's also a crazy amount of tax money.
Some fans were furious with the hefty tax deductions commenting:
"Thieves" and "Taxing that much is criminal." Another X user responded: "The real winner is the IRS and state of CA. Didn’t even show up to win $4.97 million."
Others were a bit more reasonable with the actions taken: "That is still an insane amount of money to win regardless, lucky them!"
