MrBeast declares 'I'm deleting my YouTube channel' in bombshell new post

While nothing lasts forever, it's hard to remember a time in our lives when Jimmy "MrBeast" Donaldson wasn't somewhere on our YouTube algorithm.

Although he's come a long way from a fresh-faced 13-year-old playing Harry Potter Minecraft mods on his "MrBeast6000" channel that’s since been renamed to just MrBeast, it’s still the same Jimmy Donaldson we're watching – just millions of dollars richer.

Even though YouTube is still MrBeast's bread and butter as he runs the world's most-subscribed channel, he's also branched out into other ventures like MrBeast Burger, Lunchly, and Feastables, as well as heading up Amazon's Beast Games.

There have been plenty of jokes about him taking over from Conan O'Brien to host the Oscars, while there's also been genuine chatter about him running for president, but he’s sticking to YouTube for now...or is he?

In a seemingly wild move, Donaldson took to X to announce he's finally calling time on his YouTube channel.

It's true that MrBeast has numerous channels like MrBeast Gaming, Beast Philanthropy, and several international dubbed versions, so it would be possible for him to close one without causing much of a fuss.

Still, many took this to mean his main MrBeast channel and its 474 million subscribers would soon be no more.

Posting on X, Donaldson simply wrote: "I'm deleting my YouTube channel."

You might've noticed the date on the post. With MrBeast sharing his news on April 1, it’s clearly an April Fool's Day joke. One thing that happened on April Fool's Day that was no joke was the Artemis II launch, taking us back to the Moon for the first time since 1972.

Thankfully, it's now April 2, and we can go back to normal life, because it's fair to say April 1 on X was even more of a minefield of misinformation and AI posts than it usually is.

While Donaldson was just having a bit of fun, the comments quickly turned nasty. One vocal critic got 14,000 likes for a comment that read: "I know you're joking but you should really consider deleting your account. You have a huge platform and have never spoken out against Donald Trump. You're a f**king d**chebag."

Another added: "The award for lowest effort corporate board approved April Fools joke of the day right here. 🏆."

A third joked: "Hahahahaha bro this is hilarious lmfao did you think this up or did someone else? Comedy gold brother. So many people will believe this LMAO you are so funny dude and handsome af."

Others seemed to miss a joke, with someone else saying: "Literally the worst creator on YouTube finally about time."

There was a mixed response to other brands' April Fool's Day posts, with budget airline Ryanair joking about being more serious on social media. Weirdly, this was posted on March 31 and led to plenty of backlash.

Elsewhere, we've got to applaud IKEA for the idea of the world's first meatball lollipop, Subway's Chipotle Southwest marathon gel, and Jessie Buckley being announced as a gender-flipped James Bond. Thankfully, there are another 364 days until we have to go through this torture all over again.