YouTube king Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, found himself in hot water with a vocal segment of the anime community after changing his X profile picture to Monkey D. Luffy from One Piece in late December 2025.
What should have been a warm welcome to the fandom quickly turned into accusations of clout-chasing and fake fandom.
On December 24, MrBeast asked his followers if he should start watching Eiichiro Oda’s legendary series, admitting the episode count intimidated him.
After receiving thousands of recommendations, including from fellow creator IShowSpeed, Jimmy announced his “conversion” and updated his avatar to Luffy’s post-timeskip look.
The gatekeeping backlash
Instead of celebration, criticism flooded in. Hardcore fans accused MrBeast of jumping on the hype train purely for marketing purposes, especially with Netflix’s live-action Season 2 dropping in March 2026.
Others questioned his legitimacy, claiming he couldn’t possibly be a real fan if he was already using a post-timeskip Luffy image without having watched the series properly.
The gatekeeping, the toxic practice where fans police who qualifies as a “true” follower, reached a breaking point. MrBeast, clearly fed up, fired back in a now-viral clip that shut down the critics:
“I’ve watched more anime than all of you, you little anime clowns with your anime profile pictures… I was tweeting about anime way before some of you were born… I watched all 700 episodes of Naruto“.
The receipts don’t lie
Donaldson’s defense holds up. Internet archives show old tweets where he discussed Attack on Titan and Naruto years before these series exploded in Western mainstream culture.
The content creator has been part of the anime community far longer than many realize, making the accusations particularly ironic.
The incident has sparked broader conversations about toxicity in anime fandoms. Instead of celebrating that the world’s biggest YouTuber is promoting One Piece, arguably giving the series massive exposure to new audiences, some fans chose hostility over hospitality.
It’s a reminder that gatekeeping does more harm than good, pushing away potential fans rather than welcoming them into the community.
MrBeast’s public response has resonated with casual anime watchers who’ve faced similar elitism. The message is clear: being a fan isn’t about how early you arrived or how many episodes you’ve memorized, it’s about genuine appreciation for the content.
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