Mr Beast: who is friend Chris Tyson - what did YouTuber say about ‘transphobic’ SunnyV2 video?

Earlier this year, Chris Tyson revealed that they were undergoing hormone replacement therapy
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With a combined 234 million subscribers across his various YouTube channels, MrBeast, a.k.a Jimmy Donaldson, is one of the biggest YouTubers on the platform. Donaldson and his team are known for their videos with massive budgets, such as the “Squid Game In Real Life” video which saw the winner bag a whopping $456,000. 

Recently, the MrBeast brand has been the subject of conversation online, after Chris Tyson revealed that they began hormone replacement therapy (HRT) earlier this year. While Tyson has been met with support online, they have also been at the receiving end of much transphobic abuse - something the Donaldson himself has now called out.

This is everything you need to know.     

Who is Chris Tyson?

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Tyson, 26, is a childhood friend of Donaldson. The MrBeast YouTube channel started in 2012 and in 2015 Tyson made their first appearance - since then, Tyson, alongside Karl Jacobs, Nolan Hansen and Chandler Hallow, have become a core part of the MrBeast YouTube channel. 

Tyson married fellow influencer Katie Tyson in May 2018, and two years later the pair welcomed their son, Tucker, into the world. It was in March 2023 that Tyson announced that they and Katie had actually been separated since early 2022.

They tweeted: “For a little over a year now me and Katie have been separated. We are finalising things soon but these things take time. We like to keep our personal lives private, which a lot of people don’t understand because we share so much, but this is the only time I want to discuss it.

“Please respect our privacy and please do not comment asking questions about this specific topic on our socials about this from here on. Thank you so much love you all.” 

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Two weeks later, Tyson opened up on social media about their gender, revealing that they have been on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) since February 2023.  

Responding to a tweet which put two pictures of Tyson side by side with the caption”Bro, what happened?”, Tyson replied: “HRT, and it’s only been 2 months [shocked emoji].”

In another tweet, Tyson wrote: “Informed concert HRT saved my and many others’ lives. The hurdles [gender non-conforming] people have to jump through to get life-saving gender-affirming healthcare in a 1st world country is wild to me. Just let people make informed decisions about their own bodies.”

Tyson also wrote: “I’m genuinely glad so many people are learning what HRT is and how it CAN and HAS helped so many people because of my tweet. I was super nervous to be public about this [because] I’ve always been so private when it comes to this, but seeing conversations started [because] of me is amazing.” 

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Back in 2020, Tyson publicly came out as bisexual during the run up to the US Presidential election.

Tyson tweeted: "All us kids who were suppressed and shamed for being who we are, or told out opinions didn't matter, are finally standing up and letting our voices be heard. I am bisexual and when I told the few people I did when I was 16, I got a lot of negative backlash from friends/family. Just know if the people around you don't love and support you, we always will."

Tyson reaffirmed their sexuality in April 2023, with a tweet that said: "I was reading my Instagram comments and unless I missed something new in my own life, I'm 99.9% sure I still like both genders lol. I'll see you next time I come out as bi for the 483905 time [thumbs up emoji]."

What was the SunnyV2 video?

On 13 April, fellow YouTuber SunnyV2, whose real name is Lachlan Windross, uploaded a video titled “Why Chris WIll Soon Be A Nightmare For MrBeast”. In the video, Windross theorises that Tyson and their increasingly feminine appearance will lead to a drop in popularity for Donaldson’s YouTube channel. 

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During the nine minute long video, Windross says that while Donaldson and the rest of the MrBeast crew have been supportive of Tyson, the “dynamic within the videos” have changed as a result of Tyson’s gender journey.

Windross said: “For example, in a recent live stream titled “Opening 1,000 Mystery Art Boxes”, Chris would once again dress in quite a feminine way and while everybody participated as usual, the energy and vibe didn’t feel nearly as smooth as it normally does.

“It felt as though there was an unaddressed elephant in the room, and therefore everybody was in their head as opposed to being in the present moment enjoying each other’s company.” 

MrBeast (2nd from R) and guests including Chris Tyson (right) at the 2023 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards on 4 March 2023 (Photo: Leon Bennett/Getty Images)MrBeast (2nd from R) and guests including Chris Tyson (right) at the 2023 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards on 4 March 2023 (Photo: Leon Bennett/Getty Images)
MrBeast (2nd from R) and guests including Chris Tyson (right) at the 2023 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards on 4 March 2023 (Photo: Leon Bennett/Getty Images)

He then went on to say that Donaldson has been “forced to agree with Chris’s position as he has no way of manipulating the situation without being painted as the bad guy” and that it’s a “lose-lose situation for MrBeast”.  

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Windross continued: “[Donaldson] has no option but to publicly express acceptance of Chris’s transition, as silence, or even worse, disapproval, would come with severe repercussions.” 

At the end of the video, Windross says that this public approval indicates to the MrBeast audience that this will be the “new normal” in his content, inevitably leading to viewers watching less and less of his videos. 

How did MrBeast respond? 

On Twitter, Donaldson responded to a tweet which included a screenshot of the YouTube video from Windross.

He wrote: “Yeah, this is getting absurd. Chris isn’t my “nightmare” he’s my f**ken friend and things are fine. All this transphobia is starting to piss me off.”

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Donaldson’s reply was met with praise from fans and followers. 

One person replied: “Coming out can be difficult enough as it is. But having hundreds of thousands of people being so hateful towards you in the process makes it even harder. You’re a good friend for being so supportive. Props.”

Another wrote: “Thanks for having your friends back. Coming out under the public eye is scary enough. Glad they have you as a friend who continues to be there for them.”

“Sending you love and support! It’s important to stand up against discrimination. You and your friend deserve to be treated with respect and acceptance. Keep being an ally and fighting against hate,” tweeted another. 

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Some have questioned Donaldson’s use of “he” when referring to Tyson in his tweet, but it’s been pointed out that in the profile of their Twitter account, it states that Tyson uses “any pronouns”. Therefore Donaldson wasn’t misgendering Tyson, neither deliberately or accidentally.

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