In a surprising turn of events amid the ongoing discussions about a potential U.S. ban of TikTok, popular YouTuber Jimmy ‘MrBeast’ Donaldson has humorously offered to purchase the social media platform.
With the deadline for ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, to divest its U.S. operations quickly approaching on January 19, 2025, MrBeast took to X (formerly Twitter) to jokingly propose, “Okay fine, I’ll buy TikTok so it doesn’t get banned.”
This remark comes at a time when speculation over TikTok’s future in the U.S. is rife, as the platform faces national security concerns due to its Chinese ownership.
The U.S. government has been pressuring TikTok to sell to a non-Chinese entity or risk being removed from app stores, a measure linked to legislation passed by Congress last year.
This push is part of larger fears over data privacy and potential foreign influence, especially given TikTok’s massive U.S. user base of approximately 170 million.
Names like Elon Musk have been floated as potential buyers in recent rumors, but TikTok has dismissed these claims as “pure fiction.”
Although MrBeast’s comment was made in jest, it has sparked a wave of reactions online, with many commenting on the post and fueling further discussions about the app’s uncertain future in the U.S.
