Featured Image Credit: MrBeast / YouTube
MrBeast's YouTube videos are huge events - and one of his latest uploads was no different.
Posted on March 2, the video was titled 'I Survived 7 Days In An Abandoned City' and featured American YouTuber MrBeast (real name Jimmy Donaldson) and some of his friends apparently surviving for a week in an abandoned city.
MrBeast is known for being a very mild-mannered creator, but he's also not completely immune to a sprinkling of controversy - as demonstrated by some criticism of this video.
Some viewers were quick to point out that the city might not have been quite as abandoned as the video suggests.
Shortly after it was uploaded, various commenters on YouTube and other social media sites recognized the area where it was filmed.
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It's a coastal part of Croatia, in a town called Kupari, which was damaged and had a large chunk of it pretty much abandoned during the Croatian War of Independence.
That sounds like it tallies pretty nicely with the video's title, but viewers have pointed out that while MrBeast and his friends were staying in the area of some abandoned hotels and resorts, it would only take a five or 10-minute drive to get to completely lived-in neighbourhoods.
He was actually rather close to a popular beach, where lots of people still visit, and a community violation note on X (formerly Twitter) said the city was actually 'locked to the public for shooting'.
This has caused much consternation, to the point where MrBeast himself has piped up on X to point out that he never claimed you couldn't access the area by car, and the bit he filmed in was indeed technically abandoned.
It's an interesting scenario, and while some people feel a bit duped by the video's claims, many are rushing to MrBeast's defense - saying that his videos are for entertainment, so of course he's going to exaggerate some elements.
Seems the note was removed but for clarity it was abandoned decades ago. Also I never said you can’t drive to it I just thought it would be cooler to fly a helicopter lol pic.twitter.com/PVGu1sT5KQ
— MrBeast (@MrBeast) April 28, 2024
The minor controversy is just part of a massive year for the most followed individual on YouTube. First, he had a bit of a head-to-head with none other than Elon Musk - owner of X (formerly Twitter) - and posted his first YouTube video directly to X to see how much ad revenue he'd make.
Then, it was announced MrBeast would be teaming up with Prime Video to launch a massive reality competition show, called Beast Games, where 1,000 contestants will compete for a $5 million prize.
