MrBeast Youtuber James Donaldson denies wrongdoing over Mayan ruins video
James Donaldson, who boasts more than 300 million subscribers on YouTube, posted a video last week that showed him and several friends touring the inside of the ruins, visiting an archaeological site after dark and climbing up a Mayan pyramid.
Chichén Itzá is a complex of Mayan ruins on the Yucatán Peninsula and is one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
Visitors are welcome to view the site but are not to climb the pyramids or visit after nightfall.
"I can't believe the government is letting us do this," Donaldson says at one point during the video.
"Nobody gets to go where we're going."
Shortly after the video was released, Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History released a statement saying that a production company that worked with Donaldson violated the terms of the agreement by monetising the video.
INAH said it was lodging the suit against the firm called Full Circle Media.
"The permission granted to Full Circle Media … did not authorise … the use of images of the archaeological site for for-profit advertisements of private brands," INAH said.
The video shows Donaldson displaying one of his brand's chocolate bars and calling it the "only Mayan-approved snack on the planet".
When asked about the incident, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she wanted a report about what happened.
"The information is that he had permission from the INAH, and now we need the INAH to tell us under what conditions this permission was granted," she said.
"And if the permission was violated, then what sanctions will be imposed."
Mexican Culture Secretary Claudia Curiel said Donaldson was authorised to publish "false information or use images of heritage sites for commercial advertising".
But the YouTuber denied this was in violation of his agreement with the INAH.
In a statement posted to his X account, Donaldson said he wanted to "clear some false things being said".
"Me and my team have great respect for the Mexican and Mayan culture and people," it said.
"We did this video to get people all over the world excited to learn more about their culture, much like we did with our Pyramids video".
He said he and his team filmed with full permits, followed guidelines and had representatives from government agencies following them as well as archaeologists to make sure the information they were sharing was accurate.
"They were aware of us mentioning Feastables in the video but for respect of the sites, it was filmed off site from any national monuments.
"The dinner scene where I made the Feastables joke was not near any Mayan temples."
Lauda Sansores, the governor of Mexico's Campeche State, took to social media to thank Donaldson for visiting.
Mr Donaldson referred to her comments in his statement, saying: "This video represents enormous publicity for the state, more than 56 million views in just four days."
The video shows high production with audio and video editing and it is unclear how much of it was actually shot at the historical site.
Later in a supplementary statement provided to The New York Times, the INAH appeared to soften its stance on the matter.
"Despite the distorted information provided by the YouTuber, the dissemination of this type of material may motivate young audiences in Mexico and around the world to learn about our ancestral cultures and visit archaeological sites."
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