MrBeast’s exit letter asks ex-employees to avoid posts about him, and lawyers push back

People who leave MrBeast’s company get a letter that includes an “expectation” they stay out of social media posts about him, according to a Business Insider report published Oct. 30. Three employment lawyers told the outlet the wording is unusual.

A Beast Industries spokesman told Business Insider the language is there to protect employees and the company from harassing behavior on social media.

What the letter says

Business Insider reporter Lucia Moses viewed one of the letters and confirmed it was the standard version the company uses. It outlines a departing employee’s obligations, including an expectation that they not create, comment on or engage with social posts involving Jimmy Donaldson (MrBeast), Beast Industries or any of its employees.

That applies even if the posts are friendly. The letter also says employees shouldn’t disclose nonpublic company information or make false or disparaging statements about it. That second part is the kind of language most people expect to see.

What the lawyers told Business Insider

California attorney V. James DeSimone called it “an unusual burden to not be able to comment on social media.” He also noted the letter doesn’t offer severance or anything else in exchange.

Evan Fray-Witzer of Ciampa Fray-Witzer, who has worked with creators, said the wording is broader than the typical nondisparagement clauses he sees, because it covers all comments and every post that references the company.

If you were to read this literally, the person couldn’t hit the ‘like’ button on a MrBeast post. That’s absurd.— Evan Fray-Witzer, to Business Insider

Russell Berger of Offit Kurman said the language might make sense for a social media star’s company. He found the letter unusually formal, long and cold in tone, though. “This is more of a putting-you-on-notice way of doing it,” he said, adding that most people leaving a job don’t get a reminder of what they can and can’t do.

Can it be enforced?

The lawyers told Business Insider the letter isn’t a contract and likely isn’t enforceable. DeSimone added one wrinkle: if an employee had earlier signed an agreement not to comment on Beast Industries on social media, the company might have grounds for legal action.

Fray-Witzer said a judge might be reluctant to enforce the provision, and MrBeast would likely “have to prove some sort of damages.” He also said the company’s motive is understandable, since it likely doesn’t want former employees undermining the brand or profiting from MrBeast’s content. Where it gets “more questionable and heavy-handed,” he said, is if it’s used simply to silence former employees.

Even if the language can’t be enforced, BI notes it could still have a chilling effect. DeSimone put the employee’s dilemma this way: “The question for the employee is always, what’s worth the juice here?”

Why it matters

Business Insider describes a company that has grown to nearly 800 people, moving into candy and financial services, around a creator known for tight control over his videos and his image. The Times of India followed up on the report, noting that lawyers see the request as going beyond what departing staff normally encounter.

Neither outlet reports that anyone has been sued or punished under the letter, and nothing in the reporting says how many people have received it. Beast Industries’ only on-the-record response so far is the spokesman’s line about harassment.