YouTube superstar Jimmy ‘MrBeast’ Donaldson has explained why he doesn’t let fans take selfies with him, saying he has to take the photos otherwise it’s a “death sentence” in public.
Getting to bump into your favorite celebrity, athlete, musician, or content creator can be a rare moment. In the past, people had commemorated that meeting by grabbing an autograph. Now, however, it’s become all about the selfie.
Snapping a photo only takes a few seconds, and really proves to your friends and family that you did get to meet your heroes. However, with it being such a quick thing, it can create some issues.
If celebrities are being hurried along, the photo might turn out blurry as you fumble to press the button. That’s something that MrBeast has dealt with, and has even started setting rules for.
MrBeast has to take your selfie with him
During his appearance on Steve-O’s Wildride! Podcast, the YouTube superstar explained that when it comes to taking photos with fans, he has to be the one to press the button, otherwise it all goes to hell.
“If someone asks you for a photo and you go yes and then you let them hand the phone to their mom, you’re cooked,” he said. “It’s like a f*cking flare in the middle of Walmart for everyone to start lining up, just ruining our trip.
“You have to understand, it’s a death sentence if it’s not quick because, again, when you take photos in public, it causes everyone to turn and look, and lines form, and then it just gets bad because once a line forms, people just want a photo because other people are getting a photo.”
Timestamp of 51:30
Donaldson noted that he has been kicked out of stores before because fans took too long to take a photo and then others started swarming him.
“We like our fans and we’re not pieces of s*it, it’s just a factual thing,” he added. “If we don’t take it quick enough, things just go ba,d and it’s something that’s very hard to understand, but you’ve just got to take our word for it.”
MrBeast added that there have been days when he’s taken thousands of photos in a “conveyor belt” manner with his team sorting things out, but when it comes to meeting him in public, it’s a case of move it or lose it.
