MrBeast has been forced to explain himself after he was accused of lying about an invitation he'd received to board the Titan submersible vessel.
Five people were killed after the submersible, run by the company OceanGate, suffered a catastrophic implosion when it went to explore the wreckage of the Titanic on 18 June.
People who were supposed to experience a trip on the vessel have spoken out in the wake of the tragedy, with MrBeast joining the conversation on 25 June when he shared a screenshot of an invitation he apparently received to board the sub.
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Alongside a screenshot of the message, the YouTuber wrote: "I was invited earlier this month to ride the Titanic submarine, I said no. Kind of scary that I could have been on it."
The invite came from someone who claimed they were going on the trip themselves, writing: "I'm going to the Titanic in a submarine late this month. The team would be stoked to have you along."
MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, didn't name the sender, but it seems they did not go on the trip after all as the YouTuber has had correspondence with them since the implosion.
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Shortly after MrBeast shared the post, Twitter users became suspicious and began to question why the message box on his screenshot was blue, when texts received on iPhones are green.
"Wait why is the text receipt blue why are you making this up," one person questioned, while a second added: "How did you manage to receive a blue message on iMessage?"
Another wrote: "Uhm blue messages are the messages… you send."
MrBeast has since responded to offer an explanation for the blue message, arguing that he was telling the truth as he wrote: "My friend sent me the screenshot of when he invited me. Didn't think to scroll up and screenshot our old texts myself."
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Some Twitter users still aren't convinced, however, with some urging Donaldson to scroll through the messages and share his side of the conversation as further proof.
The YouTuber's claim comes after it was revealed that former soap opera star Ross Kemp was also among those who could have taken a trip on Titan.
Kemp made plans to take part in a trip to visit the Titanic last year for a documentary, but the production company decided the mission was too risky.
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The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have now launched an investigation into the implosion of the sub.
UNILAD has reached out to MrBeast for comment.
Emily Brown