Mr Beast sulks after being topped by gay comic in influencer rankings – who then gives classy response
Mr Beast (L) has been mocked for his response to a Rolling Stone list. (Getty)
Mr Beast (L) has been mocked for his response to a Rolling Stone list. (Getty)
People have been mocking YouTuber Mr Beast for sulking after Rolling Stone ranked him less influential than gay comedian Caleb Hearon – and watching it unfold has been very entertaining.
Mr Beast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, has the most YouTube subscribers of anyone in the world. So, it’s a bit of a surprise to see how delicate his ego appears to be, after Rolling Stone published their list of the 25 most influential creators on social media.
The list includes people like Jake Shane, Hasan Piker, Drew Afualo, all of whom have built significant followings across social media. Rolling Stone ranked Donaldson seventh clocking his 871.6 million followers.
Caleb Hearon, whose sharp takes regularly go viral, landed sixth place and was has1.6 million followers.
Mrbeast's mask slipping this much in less than a year has been fascinating to watch.
— Rosanna Pansino (@RosannaPansino) August 26, 2025
Sorry Jimmy, Caleb has something you'll never have: A personalty. pic.twitter.com/Ck3WnTNfXf
“According to this list a guy with 1 million followers is more influential than me. What did I do to piss off the Rolling Stones?” Donaldson wrote on X/Twitter earlier this week with an image of Hearon.
The response to the now deleted post was pretty universal in its derision on Donaldson. “Mrbeast’s mask slipping this much in less than a year has been fascinating to watch,” wrote one critic. “Sorry Jimmy, Caleb has something you’ll never have: A personalty.”
Someone else wrote, “Caleb hearon has become an absolute juggernaut in comedy, his podcast is huge, hes in multiple movies and will undoubtedly become a bigger actor, you make slop content for 9 year olds. You dont “influence” anyone.” And another commenter demanded Donaldson “Put some respect on Caleb.”
Donaldson soon deleted his original post and retracted his criticism. “Ngl after this I watched some of his stuff and it’s actually good. I deleted the tweet I don’t want the smoke from the shooters, spare me plz,” he wrote referencing a particularly funny and viral clip of Hearon.
Ngl after this I watched some of his stuff and it’s actually good. I deleted the tweet I don’t want the smoke from the shooters, spare me plz
— MrBeast (@MrBeast) August 26, 2025
Hearon screenshotted Donaldson’s original post and shared it to his Instagram. Not addressing Donaldson directly at all or clapping back, Hearon wrote in the caption: “thank you @rollingstone it’s an honor.”
It’s a classy response that is actually more savage than any clapback could have been. Aye Edebiri then commented, “Not you about to get sent to a remote island for 100 days.” She referenced the type of challenges Donaldson goes for on his channel.
“You when you get ranked higher than a grifter off of children’s joy” wrote Afualo. “King” wrote another fan with many others applauding Hearon for handling the incident so demurely.
