YouTube icon MrBeast explained the reason why he didn’t make a bid to buy Sean Evans’ Hot Ones show, despite being interested in purchasing the popular interview series.
In December 2024, Hot Ones co-creator and host Sean Evans purchased the show from Buzzfeed for an eye-watering $82.5 million.
After nearly a decade of hosting the series, it’s finally in his own hands… but there’s another big creator who says he’d have loved to buy it to expand his own content empire.
Enter Jimmy ‘MrBeast‘ Donaldson, owner of the most-subscribed channel on YouTube and host of Amazon Prime’s Beast Games reality show.
MrBeast interested in expanding YouTube empire with more shows
Easily one of the most famous men on the internet, MrBeast says he would have added to his ever-growing social media stardom by purchasing Hot Ones… if he’d ever been approached to do so.
He spoke on the topic in an interview with fellow YouTubers Colin and Samir, saying that he’s not opposed to acquiring media franchises under the MrBeast umbrella.
“He [Sean] never reached out,” Donaldson admitted. “If he did, I probably would have.”
“Is that something you’d be interested in?” Colin asked.
“Of course,” MrBeast answered. “I mean, I don’t have that kind of money right now, because I’m dumping everything into everything that I’m doing, but we could have financed it through a bank.
“I would have actually really loved to help fund the show. Especially with how knee-deep I am in CPG. I could have shown him probably how to — two, three exit sales and the sauce, pretty quickly.”
“When I saw that article, I was like, ‘Oh… he should have called me!’”
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As much as he would love to appear on Hot Ones himself, he admitted that he can’t stand spicy food and even “hates it with a passion” — but his desire to get in a room with Evans could supersede his apprehension about the show’s key challenge.
It looks like he missed out big time, though, as the hosts of popular YouTube series Cold Ones had even shopped the idea of buying Hot Ones with MrBeast back in summer 2024.
MrBeast’s presence on Hot Ones would be one of many celebrities over the years, which has spawned viral moments thanks to appearances from guests like Ice Spice, SZA, and even Conan O’Brien.