MrBeast’s ‘inedible’ burgers create huge legal drama

polygon.com:

Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, launched his burger chain concept, MrBeast Burger, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The first shop opened in November 2020 in North Carolina, and the chain quickly expanded into hundreds of additional locations, using a ghost kitchen setup where existing restaurants were contracted to make and send out MrBeast Burger’s food to customers. But that created serious quality control problems. While some people had fine experiences, others complained about their burgers being charred or completely raw. Still, however, MrBeast Burger opened with huge buzz; a New Jersey opening in 2022 drew over 10,000 to a mall location, which quickly became overwhelmed by people.

But by 2023, MrBeast himself had realized that MrBeast Burger wasn’t a great idea, and something he wanted to move on from.

Donaldson seems to regret signing the MrBeast Burger deal with Virtual Dining Concepts, the company behind the ghost kitchens, citing a damaged reputation from burgers that were called “disgusting,” “revolting,” and “inedible,” according to a lawsuit filed by Donaldson’s Beast Investments. The lawsuit says that Virtual Dining Concepts won’t let Donaldson out of the burger deal, despite more than half of the restaurants having ratings of less than two out of five stars — so Beast Investments is suing to get out of the deal. Beast Investments filed the lawsuit in late July, and in early August, Virtual Dining Concepts sued Donaldson right back, saying that he hasn’t honored his contract and has intentionally interfered with the business’s success. The company is reportedly seeking damages upward of $100 million.

Donaldson, aka MrBeast, is a 25-year-old YouTuber, and one of the most subscribed-to creators on