After announcing in June that he was “moving on from MrBeast Burger” in a series of now-deleted tweets, YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson is suing his virtual restaurant parent company, Virtual Dining Concepts for “material, irreparable harm” to his brand and reputation.
According to the lawsuit filed Monday with the United States District Court of the Southern District of New York, when Donaldson signed on with Orlando, Fla.-based ghost kitchen company, Virtual Dining Concepts in 2020 to launch his virtual burger brand, the company began focusing on rapid expansion and pitching the same business model to other celebrities instead of quality control.
Although MrBeast Burger is one of the largest and most recognizable virtual restaurant brands to come out of the pandemic, the lawsuit takes issue with the low-quality food — often delivered in unmarked and unbranded packaging — described by reviewers as “disgusting,” “inedible,” and “the worst burger I ever had.”