After MrBeast sued his food delivery partner, the company sued him back

YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson, the star behind the most-followed individual account MrBeast, is in the midst of a legal battle over his MrBeast Burger partnership.

Donaldson, the 25-year-old creator who has more than 173 million subscribers on YouTube, sued his food delivery service partner Virtual Dining Concepts on July 31, alleging the company damaged his reputation by delivering “low quality” and, at times, “inedible” food to customers.

And just one week later, Virtual Dining Concepts and Celebrity Virtual Dining (VDC) filed a lawsuit on Aug. 7 against Donaldson and his company Beast Investments for allegedly breaching agreements and failing to honor his contractual obligations, among other claims. The news was first reported by Variety.

Here’s what to know about the two lawsuits involving Donaldson, one of YouTube's biggest stars.

Why is VDC suing MrBeast?

VDC filed the lawsuit against Donaldson and Beast Investments in the Supreme Court of the state of New York on Monday, Aug. 7, according to a copy of the complaint obtained by NBC News.

“This case is about a social media celebrity who believes his fame means that his word does not matter, that the facts do not matter, and that he can renege and breach his contractual obligations without consequence,” the lawsuit states. “He is mistaken.”

VDC alleges Donaldson and Beast Investments breached the parties’ agreements and interfered with the business dealings of MrBeast Burger, leading to damaging the reputation of the burger brand and VDC, according to the complaint.

The lawsuit also alleges Donaldson failed to comply with his contractual publicity and promotional obligations, as well as failed to publicly support the brand.

The lawsuit included screenshots of tweets from Donaldson, which VDC argued were “untruthful or misleading” statements and “disparaging comments” about MrBeast Burger and VDC.

“The company I partnered with won’t let me stop even though it’s terrible for my brand,” Donaldson wrote in a tweet. “Young beast signed a bad deal.”

In another tweet, he wrote, “If I had the ability to close it, I would have done so a long time ago sadly. Sometimes when ur young you sign s--- deal.”

The complaint states the damages to VDC are in the nine-figure range, according to VDC’s evidence and “Mr. Donaldson’s own estimations,” though it did not provide Donaldson's estimations.

A representative for Donaldson declined to comment on the lawsuit to NBC News.

Why did MrBeast sue VDC?

VDC’s lawsuit against Donaldson came after the YouTuber sued the dining company on July 31 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, according to a copy obtained by NBC News.

Donaldson’s lawsuit seeks to end the agreement and partnership with VDC, citing quality control concerns.

“Virtual Dining Concepts was more focused on rapidly expanding the business as a way to pitch the virtual restaurant model to other celebrities for its own benefit, it was not focused on controlling the quality of the MrBeast Burger customer experience and products,” the lawsuit states.

Attorneys for the YouTuber cite thousands of reactions online about the food after the customers received orders that were “delivered late, in unbranded packaging, fail to include the ordered items, and in some instances, were inedible,” according to the suit.

In some of the posts, MrBeast was blamed for the poor service, according to the complaint.

“Customers have referred to the burgers as being ‘disgusting,' ‘revolting,’ and ‘inedible.’ They have claimed that 'it is sad that MrBeast would put his name on this,’ ‘MrBeast is being cancelled over burgers;’ ‘never had something so nasty;’ ‘inaccurate marketing;' ‘Orlando’s worst burger;’ ‘big name, poor food;’ ‘very upsetting for the high price;’ and ‘likely the worst burger I have ever had,’” the complaint states.

Despite the negative reviews, MrBeast Burger has generated “millions of dollars,” according to the lawsuit, but “MrBeast has not received a dime.”

Attorneys for Donaldson also argue in the lawsuit that images of the YouTube star were being used without permission, and that VDC registered MrBeast-related trademarks they were not allowed to register.

The complaint alleges, because of the poor customer service experience and poor quality of the items served at MrBeast Burger, “MrBeast’s reputation and brand has, indeed, been materially and irreparably harmed.”

A spokesperson for VDC declined to comment to NBC News on Donaldson’s lawsuit.

What is MrBeast Burger?

In December 2020, Donaldson partnered with VDC to launch MrBeast Burger, which sells branded burgers and fries through delivery service apps and the MrBeast Burger website.

The website described MrBeast Burger as a “virtual restaurant brand,” which is available to order for delivery across the U.S.

“MrBeast Burger operates out of existing restaurant kitchens, allowing restaurateurs to add a new source of revenue without impacting the operation,” the website reads.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com