Jimmy Donaldson, a popular content creator commonly known as MrBeast, has filed a lawsuit against Virtual Dining Concepts (VDC), the company behind MrBeast Burger. In 2020, MrBeast partnered with VDC to launch his fast food brand using the company’s ghost kitchen concept.

Since the grand opening of the first MrBeast Burger location in New Jersey, the chain has reached 1,700 virtual locations across the country. With what seemed like a success, Donaldson surprised many by filing this lawsuit. So what went wrong?

The lawsuit claims VDC is damaging MrBeast’s reputation 

MrBeast’s team filed the lawsuit in the Southern District of New York. The lawsuit claims that due to the declining quality of the burgers, Virtual Dining Concepts is ruining MrBeast’s reputation. Some reviews complained of getting raw meat on their burgers. Most reviews call the burger the worst they ever had. The lawsuit is requesting to end the partnership between VDC and the MrBeast team.

“Unfortunately, however, because 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 complain reads. 

Despite Mrbeast’s objections to the quality of the products, his team said it fell on deaf ears. It’s also worth noting that MrBeast tweeted early last month, “The problem with Beast Burger is I can’t guarantee the quality of the order. When working with other restaurants, it’s impossible to control it, sadly.”

VDC responds

In response to MrBeast’s accusations, VDC released a statement claiming that his case is “meritless” and “riddled with false statements.” The company claims that his “notoriety” has ultimately grown because of their partnership and says he’s resorting to “bullying tactics” by taking legal action.

“We had hoped Mr. Donaldson would act honourably,” the statement from VDC reads. “Instead, having elevated greed over his word and the truth, he will face the consequences in court when VDC files its claims against him.”

“When VDC refused to accede to his bullying tactics to give up more of the company to him, he filed this ill-advised and meritless lawsuit seeking to undermine the MrBeast Burger brand and terminate his existing contractual obligations without cause,” the company alleges.

In response to the claims of low-quality food, VDC claims that the majority of customers are happy with the food quality.

“VDC consistently strives to improve quality and customer satisfaction, and any negative customer reviews reflect the experience and opinion of a very small minority of MrBeast Burger customers.”

Backlash aimed at Jimmy

Still, MrBeast is receiving criticism due to low-quality at some MrBeast Burger locations. To add, despite not obtaining MrBeast’s approval as stipulated in the contract, Virtual Dining Concept used his image and brand on social media, which continued to tarnish the creator’s name. 

The harm in partnerships like this is that the appeal of the product relies on the name of the creator or influencer. In the eyes of many customers, the responsibility is carried by the brand. And in the case of MrBeast Burger, that falls directly on MrBeast and his team — even if they weren’t directly involved in the quality of orders.