President Donald Trump gave the social media platform more time to comply with a law that requires it to divest its Chinese ownership.
James "Jimmy" Donaldson, known as MrBeast on YouTube, made an offhand comment to X this week, saying he'd buy TikTok so it doesn't get banned.
The social media star's Beast Games is airing Amazon Prime Video. The reality show, inspired by the Netflix hit Squid Game, sees contestants battling it out for a grand prize of $5 million. Last week, Variety reported that the show had surpassed 50 million unique viewers in 25 days.
Donaldson posted a jokey message on X on January 13 that read, "Okay fine, I'll buy Tik Tok so it doesn't get banned." A day later,
Will TikTok find a U.S. buyer to remain legal? After Trump vowed to make a deal to save the app, MrBeast has emerged as part of a joint bid.
The first four episodes of Beast Games have now aired, the beginnings of what is likely to be a long-term collaboration between the world's most popular YouTuber and Amazon Prime. Beast Games is inspired by both Netflix's Squid Game and the most popular video on MrBeast's channel,
SteveWillDoIt found himself permanently banned from YouTube after promoting the gambling platform Stake on his channel. Despite his efforts to appeal, the
The platform is in need of saving in the United States, where approximately 170 million people have TikTok accounts. On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a federal law that will ban the platform on Jan. 19 unless TikTok’s China-based owner ByteDance divests its U.S. operations.
MrBeast himself hasn’t publicly commented on which side he’ll choose yet. “The leading groups who are all credible [sic] bidding on Tik Tok have reached out for us to help them, I’m excited to partner/make this a reality,” he posted on Wednesday.
The law includes a provision that allows the president to pause the TikTok ban for 90 days if ByteDance proves it is in the process of selling the app. But without evidence that ByteDance is actively working to divest from TikTok, his order could be challenged in court.
Jimmy Donaldson — better known online as MrBeast — isn’t in the TikTok bidding race just yet, according to a representative for the YouTube star.