A hot potato: What do Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson, Linus Sebastian, and now Marques Brownlee have in common? They were all universally loved YouTube stars who later became embroiled in controversy. In the case of Brownlee, who recently faced criticism over his wallpaper app, the TechTuber is now being slammed for posting a video fully sponsored by DJI in which he drives a sports car at 95 miles per hour in a 35 miles per hour zone, speeding past a sign warning drivers to slow down for children.
On November 11, Brownlee posted a video on his MKBHD YouTube channel titled How My Video Gear is Changing. Unlike his many impartial reviews, the entire video is sponsored by Chinese drone maker DJI.
“This can’t even be considered a sponsored video anymore. It’s literally just a 10-minute advertisement,” one angry viewer wrote.
It’s not just the sponsored element of the video that’s causing a backlash. It originally showed a segment in which Brownlee drives at almost 100 miles per hour in a 35-mph zone. The fact that he drives past a sign warning drivers to slow down for children exacerbated the outrage.
In response to the outcry, Brownlee removed the clip of him speeding from the video and posted an apology on X, where he called his actions “inexcusable and dangerous.” He also posted a pinned message on the YouTube video stating “I hear all your feedback on sponsored videos too.”
Last video I did something pretty stupid. You might’ve already seen it, but maybe not so I’ll address it here. There was a clip with the action cam of me test driving a car and going way to fast. Absolutely inexcusable and dangerous.
I’ve since cut it out of the video with…
– Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) November 12, 2024
Removing the offending section from the video has done little to placate viewers. One comment, which has 12,000 likes, accuses him of attempting to sweep the incident under the rug, while another states that editing out the crime does not make it disappear.
Brownlee has seen his reputation for being a down-to-earth, “real” TechTuber tarnished in recent months. He was blasted in September after releasing a wallpaper app with a $12 per month/$50 per year premium option that users say has excessive and lengthy ads and asks for too many permissions. He later made changes, including reducing the number of ads and allowing users to download standard-definition images without seeing ads, though the price for the premium option remains unchanged.
With his YouTube ad income, estimated around $8.35 million, combined with his ads, merchandise, sponsorships, podcasts, and real estate, Brownlee is believed to have a net worth anywhere between $16 million and $40 million. His tech reviews are so popular that there were questions raised over the influence he has on the industry following his video on the Humane AI Pin, which he called the worst product he’s ever reviewed.
There’s no doubt that Brownlee’s latest video will prove to be on the same level as the Linus Tech Tips clip that led to multiple claims against the company, the pausing of all content production, and Linus Sebastian losing a lot of fans.
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