On Tuesday, Ava Kris Tyson introduced on X that she would “completely step away from all issues MrBeast and social media.” The longtime collaborator and childhood pal of Jimmy Donaldson, the person behind the 305 million subscriber YouTube kingdom with its personal line of Walmart-sold chocolate bars and movies that pull in lots of of thousands and thousands of views, apologized for any “previous conduct or feedback if it harm or offended anybody.” Donaldson issued his personal X assertion on Wednesday night time, saying he’s “conscious of the intense allegations” and has “taken speedy motion to take away Ava from the corporate, my channel, and any affiliation with MrBeast.” He additionally acknowledged he can be launching an impartial investigation into Tyson’s actions.
The apologies come within the wake of a flood of recent and revisited allegations trying into the 28-year-old’s conduct on social media over the previous decade. Tyson is a trans girl and has been the goal of anti-LGBTQ+ harassment since her transition in 2023. Lately, movies have claimed that beginning in 2016, Tyson, who was 20 on the time, had been interacting on-line and exchanging messages that included sexual content material with a consumer named LavaGS since they have been 13 years previous. Lava, who’s now a 20-year-old editor, additionally took a job with MrBeast and visited the Beast compound. Some on-line have felt Lava was “groomed” due to their interactions. (Neither Donaldson nor Tyson returned a request for remark earlier than publication.)
In a collection of follow-up tweets, Tyson shared that they “by no means groomed anybody” and particularly talked about Lava. “In previous years, I’ve realized that my previous humor isn’t acceptable,” Tyson wrote. “I can’t change who I used to be, however I can proceed to work on myself.”
Lava backed this up by tweeting, “I’m not a sufferer…Nothing dangerous occurred between me and Kris, persons are creating lies round my identify.”
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Lava mentioned he believes that the 2 creators who initially made movies on the topic twisted his story and misrepresented him so as to push their agenda. Rolling Stone additionally spoke with these two creators who deny any wrongdoing, believing that Tyson’s actions wanted to come back to gentle at any price.
LAVA HAS BEEN A FAN OF MrBeast because the early days of the channel, posting a screenshot of the channel’s 50,000 subscriber rely on Twitter in 2016 and incomes a MrBeast-signed butterfly knife for being a prime donor with simply $20. That contest earned him a Twitter observe from each Donaldson and Tyson. Round that point, Tyson’s social media persona was “edgy.” In 2017, she posted pictures on-line and on her wall (showing in a MrBeast video) of “lolli,” or drawn little one porn, from controversial web artist Shadman. Tyson has by no means instantly responded to those allegations.
As a 13-year-old, Lava had been tinkering with the newly launched messaging app Discord, studying tips on how to make servers and bots. “Kris reached out to me and noticed I used to be making Discord for folks,” Lava says. “He was new to it and wished a bot that might play Lo-Fi research music which isn’t arduous to do.”
Utilizing what he knew, Lava constructed Tyson a Discord server for “shut buddies” and he “simply ended up staying in” and “operating” it, Lava says. Based on Lava, Tyson didn’t pay for the creation or upkeep of the server, and he did it “solely for the enjoyable of it and serving to [build] a group for followers of MrBeast and Kris.”
Lava claims that Tyson was unaware of his age till 2018, although couldn’t keep in mind the particular particulars on the way it got here up.
In 2018 and 2019, the pair would play video games and talk in non-public on Discord. They might additionally discuss publicly on X (previously Twitter). Lava would name Tyson “large boy,” “dad,” “attractive” and at one level requested her to be his “valentine.” In a single reply, Lava requested Tyson about her “hentai habit,” referring to drawn animé pornography, and in one other shared a picture of Tyson’s pc from her social media with the caption, “This can be a dangerous approach to cover your hentai.” Although Tyson’s facet of those conversations has been utterly deleted, about two dozen of Lava’s messages stay up on X.
In a single interplay, Tyson tweeted a picture of her Patreon and mentioned that if she may get another sign-up she can be “releasing my noods.” Lava replied with “I’m your first Patreon large boy” and Tyson responded with “I posted some hearth noods for you. Pls no share.” (No nudes have been shared.)
In a Discord server for gaming YouTuber TheDooo, Lava posted a picture from Tyson’s group chat of her in entrance of an American flag with the caption “Cumming for America.”
To others, these conversations look inappropriate, nevertheless it was nothing out of the odd to Lava. “I used to be on the age the place I spoke to all my buddies like that,” Lava says. “There was nothing greater than that. It’s how bros discuss…I noticed Kris as an older brother as a result of he jogged my memory a whole lot of my older brother.”
In Might 2020, Lava says Tyson helped him land a job as a manufacturing assistant on Beast Gaming. Lava was a moderator on the channel’s Discord and Reddit, typically showing in movies or serving to out behind the scenes. That July, Lava visited MrBeast’s compound in North Carolina, posting an image on X with Tyson, Donaldson, in addition to Trey Yates, who edited for MrBeast from 2018 to 2021 and was the one who employed Lava.
Lava tells Rolling Stone that he and his mother and father would “keep at a campground yearly” which wasn’t removed from the compound, and that his mother and father joined him on the go to.
Yates, who was additionally the one who employed Lava at Beast Gaming, shared his facet of the story with Rolling Stone. “He came around as a result of he knew Ava from enjoying video games on-line,” Yates says. “Ava wished Lava to work for the MrBeast Gaming channel and we have been blissful to deliver him on and pay him.”
On the grooming allegations, Yates noticed the best way Lava and Tyson interacted and didn’t suppose it was unusual or out of the odd. “There was by no means any trace or indication that one thing like that was occurring and even, albeit, blatant proof that one thing like that was occurring,” he says.
LAVA STOPPED WORKING FOR BeastGaming in Might 2021, although he and Tyson remained in touch. In July 2023, Tyson got here out as trans, which triggered a flurry of dialog on the proper. One right-leaning creator who had ideas about Tyson occurred to be Prism42, a YouTuber with 800 subscribers who had discovered the messages between Lava and Tyson on 4chan (although it’s unclear how they ended up there). Prism felt he wanted to get this data out so, he claimed, he contacted 50 creators together with Turning Level USA CEO Charlie Kirk, former To Catch a Predator host Chris Hansen, and YouTube documentarian Mike Clum. There was additionally EDP445, a creator who in 2021 was caught in a YouTube vigilante’s sting operation messaging a pretend 13-year-old. (Clum is presently making a documentary about him.)
“[Prism] started to message me instantly with imprecise particulars about an unnamed creator who shall be uncovered and he wished to see if I may assist him,” Clum tells Rolling Stone. “Given the character of the accusations, I mentioned I’d have a look if he despatched them to me. He started to ship extra details about [Ava] Tyson and what appeared to be typically out there screenshots or particulars that weren’t actionable given the work I do.”
When none of these reach-outs gained traction, Prism took one other method. In an interview on the Chud Logic podcast, he mentioned he wished to emulate the undercover work of disgraced journalist James O’Keefe of Challenge Veritas who in February settled a swimsuit over false claims of 2020 voter fraud. In June 2023, Prism reached out to Lava in a message seen by Rolling Stone, pretending to need to “interview an anime fan” and that “it might be fascinating since you labored on the MrBeast server.” Lava didn’t reply that message.
For his subsequent try, Prism contacted YouTuber Verdius, an 18-year-old with 600 subscribers, and had him attain out to Lava seeking to interview him for an editor place. Verdius tells Rolling Stone that he had “no concept” that he was being arrange or that Lava had something to do with Tyson or MrBeast — he was simply searching for an editor. Through the “interview,” Lava says, the dialog began with enhancing questions however rapidly devolved right into a dialog about web predators. Prism requested Lava to touch upon a video from EDP445 speaking about Tyson.
On June 13, Verdius and Prism every launched their very own video in regards to the Tyson messages, although neither included data from Lava’s interview with them. Prism repeatedly misgendered Tyson and included a number of factual inaccuracies, together with claiming that “the second he was capable of drive,” Lava drove himself to the Beast compound, and that the “cumming” photograph was despatched personally to Lava on Snapchat, when Lava claims it was a bunch message. (When reached out for remark, Prism known as Rolling Stone “pretend information” and hung up.)
Each movies went comparatively unnoticed till July 18, when YouTube commentator Adrox launched a video aggregating the claims that grew to become algorithmic catnip, presently sitting at over a million views. From there, dozens of creators picked up the story, with the most important being from penguinz0 which is sitting at over seven million views.
“Prism purposely unnoticed context and didn’t ask me about particular conditions,” Lava mentioned. “There was nothing dangerous that occurred in any respect, if I’d have advised him that I’d have mainly invalidated his complete argument which is why he by no means requested me these questions.”
ON SOCIAL MEDIA, PRISM’S CLAIMS that Tyson talked “inappropriately” to a 13-year-old gained viral traction. Anti-LGBTQ+ activists like Tristan Tate, his brother Andrew, and LibsofTikTok have used this story as an excuse to push anti-trans rhetoric. The remark part underneath Lava’s authentic tweet denouncing the claims is filled with feedback saying he was “groomed” and is a “homosexual sufferer.”
Within the podcast with Chud Logic, Prism says “I don’t imagine males can grow to be ladies with fashionable expertise however that’s not some extent I’m going to make as a result of it’s separate from the allegations.” In an interview with Rolling Stone, Verdius mentioned he tried to maintain his protection “unbiased” however posts on Tyson’s non-public Twitter of her son in heels, and that proven fact that she “adopted the Church of Devil” might have made him “slightly bit biased.”
For these with expertise with Tyson, these severe claims appear to be getting co-opted. “All of that is simply your typical alt-right influencers making an attempt to push one thing towards trans folks as a result of they suppose they’ve one thing,” Yates says.
Lava “not needs” to be concerned with Tyson although they haven’t labored collectively in years, however nonetheless believes, “I’m not a sufferer.”
“I don’t admire [the transphobic comments] being connected to my identify, I’ve my very own private beliefs in regards to the scenario as everybody ought to,” Lava says. “I imagine attacking somebody whereas utilizing my identify is totally uncalled for.”
