Featured Image Credit: Eric Charbonneau/Amazon Prime Video via Getty Images
Mexican officials have called out MrBeast for faking parts of his latest video inside Maya Temples in a savage statement.
The YouTuber is known for his outlandish videos, usually involving extreme challenges and enormous cash prizes.
His content has earned his account the title of most-subscribed-to YouTube channel with over 395 million followers on the platform.
Now MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, has released a new video which sees him spending 100 hours in ancient Maya temples.
Advert
And while the video might sound like an incredible feat for the YouTuber to achieve, it has since faced backlash from Mexican officials.
In a press release, the the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) said: “The visit and recording of the archaeological sites of Calakmul, Campeche, and Chichén Itzá and Balamcanché, Yucatán, were carried out in accordance with formal requests made by the federal Ministry of Tourism and the governments of the two aforementioned states.
“The permits were processed through the National Coordination of Legal Affairs of the INAH, which determined the applicable rights in accordance with the law.
“The tours were conducted in publicly accessible areas without disrupting visitor access. In the case of Calakmul, the substructure of Building II was also visited. Although not permanently open to the public, it does provide access by arranging a scheduled visit with advance justification, as is the case with tours conducted with the communities surrounding the archaeological site.”
Contrary to what appears in the video, the INAH have claimed that ‘no drone flight’ at Chichén Itzá was carried out inside El Castillo, arguing that this was ‘falsely reported in the video’.
Instead, the institute says that the flight took place outside of the structure.
The INAH continued: “ It should be noted that the video evidently involves extensive audiovisual post-production work and alludes to events that never occurred. For example, the producers never descended from a helicopter, spent the night inside the archaeological site, or possessed a pre-Hispanic mask, as the one presented is clearly a contemporary reproduction.
“All of these are false assertions that reflect the theatricality of the YouTuber in question.
“The INAH confirms that at all times during the recordings, institute personnel were monitoring compliance with established safety and security measures and ensuring that no damage was done to the archaeological heritage.”
For many, this has called into question how much of MrBeast’s videos are real or are faked in post production.
The YouTuber has since changed the title of his video from 'I Survived 100 Hours In An Ancient Temple' to 'I Explored 2000 Year Old Ancient Temples'.
However, it isn’t all bad as the INAH has gone on to say it believes that ‘despite the distorted information’, the video can ‘motivate interest in young audiences in Mexico and around the world to learn about our ancestral cultures and visit archaeological sites that are a valuable national heritage’.
