YouTuber MrBeast is taking legal action against the ghost kitchen responsible for producing MrBeast Burger, seeking to halt its operations. He claims that the company is exploiting his brand for expansion rather than maintaining food quality.
The lawsuit was filed on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The legal complaint alleges that Virtual Dining Concepts (VDC), the company MrBeast partnered with, prioritized rapid business expansion to market its virtual restaurant model to other celebrities, rather than focusing on ensuring a high-quality customer experience for MrBeast Burger.
MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, partnered with Orlando-based Virtual Dining Concepts in 2020 to launch the MrBeast Burger brand during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The business model was straightforward: create a virtual restaurant featuring MrBeast-branded food, collaborating with existing restaurants to prepare the meals and sharing a significant portion of the revenue. Customers could order these items through food delivery services, eliminating the need for a physical restaurant.
However, the lawsuit claims that the quality of the food quickly became a major issue, causing significant and irreparable harm to the MrBeast brand and reputation. As a result, Donaldson argues that he has the right to terminate the breached contract and shut down the MrBeast Burger business.
Beast Investments, the entity representing MrBeast, is demanding a jury trial, the royalties it claims are owed, a full accounting of all revenues and expenses related to the MrBeast Burger business, and an injunction to prevent VDC from further using MrBeast’s brand, likeness, name, image, and intellectual property rights.
VDC responded to the lawsuit, stating that it is filled with “inaccuracies” and asserting that the legal action was initiated in retaliation for the company’s refusal to agree to a new deal with Donaldson. The company announced plans to file its own claims against him.
“When VDC refused to comply with his bullying tactics to give up more of the company to him, he filed this ill-advised and baseless lawsuit to undermine the MrBeast Burger brand and terminate his existing contractual obligations without cause,” VDC’s statement read.
Donaldson, who has 172 million subscribers—the largest following of any individual creator on YouTube—has built his empire through increasingly elaborate stunts, generous cash giveaways, and philanthropic acts, such as funding cataract surgeries for hundreds of blind individuals to restore their sight.
The lawsuit highlights several negative reviews of the burger, describing it as “disgusting,” “revolting,” and “inedible.”
Donaldson claims that over half of the MrBeast Burger virtual restaurants have average ratings of fewer than two out of five stars.
For example, the MrBeast Burger location in New York has a 2.1-star rating on Yelp. Despite the brand’s expansion to hundreds of locations globally, many customers are associating the poor quality with the MrBeast brand.
The lawsuit also alleges that VDC registered multiple trademarks for the MrBeast brand in various countries, including those in the European Union, Canada, Thailand, Singapore, Mexico, and Malaysia, without Donaldson’s knowledge or consent.
“Because the entire business is built on the immense global value of the MrBeast brand, it is MrBeast himself, not Virtual Dining Concepts, who has suffered the most from the (justified) attacks and criticisms,” the lawsuit states.
Additionally, the lawsuit claims that while the business has generated millions of dollars, MrBeast has not received any financial compensation. It acknowledges that Beast Investments granted VDC the rights to use MrBeast’s name, image, and likeness.
The lawsuit further argues that MrBeast has spent years building his brand into one of the most valuable globally, making it essential that he retain strict control over how his name, image, likeness, and brand are used by the MrBeast Burger business.
Donaldson also asserts that VDC quickly took advantage of MrBeast Burger’s initial success. His video titled “I Opened A Restaurant That Pays You To Eat At It,” documenting the launch, has garnered over 160 million views on YouTube.
In 2022, a physical MrBeast Burger location opened at the American Dream mall in New Jersey, drawing large crowds of fans on its first day.
The lawsuit notes that Donaldson himself raised concerns about the burger’s quality. In a June tweet, Donaldson mentioned that he enjoys running his snacks line, Feastables, “100X more” than the burger business.
“The problem with Beast Burger is that I can’t guarantee the quality of the order,” he tweeted. “When working with other restaurants, it’s impossible to control it, sadly.”
