YouTube star MrBeast has revealed how a protected bald eagle forced him to relocate one of his most expensive video shoots after production was already millions of dollars in.
Appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the creator real name Jimmy Donaldson explained that the setback happened while filming one of his large-scale challenge videos, where contestants are given a luxury item and tasked with protecting it to keep it.
According to MrBeast, the video involved giving a participant a yacht, placing it in a lake, and challenging them to stop 20 cannons from sinking it using unlimited funds.
How a bald eagle cost MrBeast millions
“I gave this guy a yacht, put it in a lake, gave him my credit card and said do whatever you can to stop 20 cannons from sinking your yacht,” he told host Jimmy Fallon.
However, just before filming was set to begin, the entire production was shut down after a protected bird was spotted nearby.
“But right before we go to shoot the cannons, we’re millions of dollars deep for the shoot and someone spotted a bald eagle,” MrBeast said. “I didn’t know this but you can’t make loud noises near a bald eagle’s nest because they’re protected and it can scare them away.”
He added that there was no workaround once the situation became clear.
“I was like can we just pick up the nest and move it? Nope that’s a federal crime. So we had to pack everything up, spend an obscene amount of money and move to a different lake.”
Bald eagles are protected under US federal law, and disturbing their nests or causing conditions that could drive them away can carry serious penalties.
MrBeast said the experience was an expensive lesson in planning outdoor shoots at scale.
“Now I know to survey the area for bald eagles,” he joked.
