MrBeast Rejects $5 Million Stake Offer During Charity Livestream

During his record-breaking Team Water charity stream on Kick, Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson turned down a jaw-dropping $5 million offer from Stake CEO Eddie Craven. The cryptocurrency-based gambling platform proposed the sum for just an hour of promotion, but MrBeast immediately declined.

The moment unfolded when co-host Adin Ross revealed a note from Stake’s CEO offering the multimillion-dollar deal. While Ross pressed him on whether there was "any way" in which he’d accept, MrBeast doubled down. “No. It’s because I don’t do gambling,” he said.

The refusal quickly went viral, with fans praising MrBeast for sticking to his principles instead of cashing in on what many called “the easiest money he’ll ever refuse.”

However, some online discussions noted the irony, as Kick is closely tied to Stake and gambling content, though MrBeast avoided any direct promotion.

Despite the awkwardness, the event was a massive success. The stream, co-hosted by Adin Ross and Félix “xQc” Lengyel, raised over $12 million in just 15.5 hours, setting a Guinness World Record for most money raised in a single live stream.

Adin Ross and Gambling Controversies

The incident also reignited discussions about gambling’s role in streaming, especially given Adin Ross’s history. Ross has repeatedly faced backlash for promoting gambling to young fans, with reports of multimillion-dollar sponsorships, massive personal losses, and even a tragic case where a viewer reportedly took his own life after falling into gambling addiction influenced by his streams.

Ross has also been tied to Twitch’s crackdown on gambling content, though he later moved to Kick, where he reportedly earned hundreds of millions through Stake-related deals. While he claimed to have “quit gambling” in late 2024, Ross continued to host casino giveaways and streams into 2025, fueling criticism about his role in normalizing addictive behaviors.

MrBeast’s Own History With Gambling Allegations

Although MrBeast has avoided direct ties to casinos, he hasn’t been free from gambling-related controversies. Critics have accused his giveaways and sweepstakes — such as Feastables prize draws and Amazon Prime’s Beast Games — of blurring the line with lotteries. Allegations of rigged outcomes and unregulated sweepstakes drew scrutiny in 2024, though MrBeast has consistently denied wrongdoing.

Adding to the confusion, scammers have exploited his name to push fake casino apps like MrBeast Casino, luring unsuspecting fans into fraud schemes. While unrelated to him, these scams further tied his brand to gambling discourse.