Featured Image Credit: MrBeast / Instagram / X
They don't come much bigger than Jimmy "MrBeast" Donaldson in the world of YouTube, and as the most-subscribed channel on the platform, he's got a lot of eyes on him.
There's been a recent controversy with his Beast Games series, but now, he's back in the news for a very different reason.
It isn't all dropping desperate contestants through trapdoors or asking two men to spend months living in the wilderness for our own entertainment.
MrBeast shocked fans by announcing his engagement on January 1st... although not everyone is convinced.
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Showing off his engagement to girlfriend Thea Booysen, Donaldson wrote on X: "Ya boy did a thing."
There was a photo of Donaldson and Booysen in matching MrBeast Christmas sweaters, while he's snapped mid-proposal. She also shared a video on her Instagram, showing off the big moment in action and giving us a better look at her impressive diamond engagement ring.
Responding to his post, one particularly funny jibe said: "She had just to say yes or no? No challenge and 15 minigames before all of that? 🦦"
Elsewhere, some were questioning whether this was the real deal. We're not sure why you'd use artificial intelligence to fake an engagement, but some of you are convinced that MrBeast didn't actually pop the question.
One skeptic wrote: "This looks all the more AI when the exact same girl is sat under the stairs."
We're not experts on Booysen's family, but we'd imagine that's probably her sister.
Another unconvinced onlooker added: "Yeah, that looks strange, like an AI generated photo. His fingers are way too long and his pinky (?) is turned sideways from his other fingers."
Someone else concluded: "So why is the girl's sleeve BLACK in this photo while the first photo of her standing in front of Mr Beast as he kneels on one leg shows her sleeves as BLUE?
“Even the other two ladies' sleeves are BLUE. What kind of fake engagement is this? #MrBeast #fakeengage."
it's A.I. 😄
— xBEAR 🇷🇺 🅉 ☦️ (@rusky_medved) January 2, 2025
There could be numerous explanations for what's going on, and while some of you remain convinced that he's faked the whole thing, it seems like a lot of effort for no particular reason.
Donaldson recently grabbed headlines amid accusations he faked a video wrecking a Lamborghini, which was sparked by a previous job posting for an AI artist.
Booysen even did her own interview with People, where she explained: "We're thinking of doing it somewhere on an island where we're far away from just about everybody.
"We're not going to try and have a big, extravagant wedding. It's going to be nice, but it's certainly going to be intimate [with] close family and friends."
Even though there's sometimes more to the story, this seems like a pretty open-and-shut case.
