MrBeast sues his food delivery partner over ‘inedible’ burgers

James Donaldson, a YouTube star better known as MrBeast, has sued his partner in a food delivery business saying the company sacrificed quality in its bid for rapid expansion..

Donaldson’s Beast Investments LLC sued for breach of contract, asking a federal judge in Manhattan for the right to terminate his business relationship with Virtual Dining Concepts, a Florida company co-founded by former Planet Hollywood executive Robert Earl.

Donaldson, who has more than 170 million subscribers to his flagship YouTube channel, partnered with Virtual Dining in 2020. They began selling burger-and-fries combos in December of that year, tapping restaurants and commercial kitchens across the country that were experiencing downtime due to the pandemic. Customers ordered online for delivery or pick up through the MrBeastBurger website or other delivery services, a concept known as “ghost kitchens.”

Thanks in large part to Donaldson’s promotional skills, the partners sold 1 million burgers in the first three months, the suit said. By 2022, they had signed up 1,700 participating restaurants. The burger business became one of many ways in which Donaldson has used his large following on social media to build new enterprises, including the Feastables line of snacks.