MrBeast's burger beef
It is extremely dramatic.
Hi, drama.
Newly public text messages sent by YouTube megaceleb MrBeast (aka Jimmy Donaldson) to a business contact show just how adversarial the relationship between MrBeast and the company behind his virtual restaurant brand, MrBeast Burger, has become. The Information reported on the texts Tuesday.
The beef has been percolating publicly since June 2023, when MrBeast tweeted, then deleted, messages saying he planned to step away from the viral burger brand over food quality issues. “Young Beast signed a bad deal,” he wrote at the time.
Eventually, Donaldson sued Beast Burger parent Virtual Dining Concepts, and VDC countersued for $100 million. Since then, per a slew of New York state court filings, it’s been… messy.
Now, texts recently entered into evidence show Donaldson was sour on the deal for months before he publicly declared it.
In a string of messages sent to a professional contact about the virtual brand in March 2023, Donaldson wrote:
“I'm just never going to promote it again and let it slowly die, f*ck those pieces of sh*t. If theyd give me control I'd make them rich. But instead they hold me hostage and try to make me their b*tch.”
Strong words.
Donaldson’s other messages — at least those that haven’t been redacted in court filings — mention his concerns about food quality and brand image. The texts also note — correctly, in hindsight — that VDC leadership would probably sue him for speaking out, especially given he was the company’s biggest star.
“Things are very bad for me and VDC,” wrote a person identified as ‘Robert Beast Burger’ in the text messaging records. (Likely Robert Earl, VDC’s co-founder, or his son, also Robert Earl, another co-founder.) “We have lost a huge amount of biz from your tweet… you have smashed up my company.”
What else?
(Reservations edition!)
From the San Francisco Chronicle: “How an unexpected power player in restaurant reservations has wooed top Bay Area chefs.” The headline’s talking about OpenTable, the company that’s had the highest number of restaurants on its platform of any reservations service since its inception nearly 25 years ago. — SF Chronicle (gift link)
From the San Francisco Standard *on the same day*: “The hottest restaurants in SF are moving over to… OpenTable?” It’s cool to be hip, but no one mentions the technology! — SF Standard
“When it rains, it pours.” - OpenTable CEO Debby Soo in an email when I congratulated her on the well-timed media coverage.
Meanwhile, in New York: This small selection of restaurants uses handwritten reservations books to run their dining rooms. (Spoiler alert: most take online reservations, then rewrite them by hand. It’s a vibe. Or something.) — Eater New York
Resy turned 10 this year, and CEO Pablo Rivero (also Tock lead Matt Tucker’s new boss) is talking up some of the platform’s newer features, like shareable lists. — Entrepreneur
🎧 New episode of The Simmer!
This week, Brandon and I sit down with Alice Cheng, founder and CEO of Culinary Agents, a hiring platform for hospitality companies.
We managed to highlight an exclusive announcement in this episode: Alice debuts Culinary Agents’ newest endeavor: HospitalityCareerPaths.com, a platform highlighting the professional trajectories of leaders in the industry. (And others, like me.)