Interview: Jake the Viking Gives His Statement on Chris Tyson
When the news about Chris Tyson engulfed social media yesterday, one of the most vocal commentators was Jake the Viking, a YouTube vlogger and former regular on MrBeast’s channel whose real name is Jake Franklin. Jake talked to me about the situation as he knows it and how he believes it involves MrBeast.
All of Jake’s comments are his own.
Alex: How long have you known MrBeast and Chris Tyson?
Jake: I’ve known MrBeast and Chris Tyson since May of 2018 when I officially joined the channel. Chris was the last one I met officially; we had done the rubber band video, “How Many Rubber Bands Does It Take to Snap a Safe,” and Chris wasn’t there because he was on his honeymoon. I met him after that.
A: What was your association with them?
J: I was first brought on as a video editor, and then I started being in the videos as what’s called “talent.” At the height of it, I was doing everything.
A: When and why did you stop associating with MrBeast?
J: They fired me in April of 2020. The reason I was told was that my “piece no longer fit the puzzle,” and because I did a brand deal with a CBD company. They claimed it was brand protection because they’re kid-oriented.
A: For anyone who hasn’t been following the Chris Tyson/Ava Kris Tyson story, can you take us through the timeline of events and revelations as you learned them?
J: I was in Columbus, Ohio, attending the Inkcarceration music festival. On July 22, I got up around 11:30 or 12:00 and got text messages saying to check Twitter. That’s when I saw all the tweets saying Chris had talked to minors inappropriately.
A: So you learned about it the same way most everyone else did?
J: Yes, I went and checked Twitter, and there it all was.
A: On Twitter/X, you talked about the age of a girl who “sent him his first ever pair of Gucci slides.” Can you elaborate on this?
J: In 2019, we were on a flight to Vegas, and Chris was talking about a girl who bought him A $200 pair of Gucci slides. He mentioned her age, which was in her young teens. I thought it was weird that a girl that young was sending him Gucci slides, but I never thought something sexually inappropriate was happening.
A: You also posted, “Jimmy knew,” presumably meaning Jimmy Donaldson, MrBeast. Do you know, or believe, that he knew about Tyson?
J: What I meant was that Jimmy and Chris lived together for two years. They spent hours together brainstorming and working together for years. Going back to the story on the plane, he was that open to telling the rest of us how young that girl was. Imagine what he told Jimmy. I was never a part of that; I showed up to film the show at 9:00, and I left at 6:00. I never spent time with the other guys outside of work except for a few dinners and such.
A: If he knew, why do you think he stayed silent?
J: They’ve been friends forever, and Chris was such an integral part of the channel. When Chris transitioned, Jimmy was put between a rock and a hard place; if he kept Chris, he’d get pushback from people who disagreed with that lifestyle, but if he got rid of Chris, he would anger the LGBTQ community. So it was a little of both.
And I don’t believe Chris’ statement was written by him. That’s a public relations response, where he doesn’t admit to much of anything and doesn’t give away too much information. That was Dr Disrespect’s mistake; he gave too much away. Chris didn’t.
A: The Prism42 videos have been online since June. Why is this story only getting attention now, especially since Tyson’s transition was a big deal on social media?
J: June 25 is when Chris deleted all of his tweets. That’s roughly the time the Prism video was uploaded. Why it took this long to get attention, I have no idea. I guess it’s just one of those things that eventually got noticed. People ask me why I didn’t say anything about what little I knew; I had no proof, and I would get flamed if I accused him of something with no proof. But now that there is proof, I‘m going to stand up for what I believe is right. It’s not okay to message kids inappropriately; that’s wrong.
As soon as that Twitch employee accused Dr Disrespect of sending inappropriate texts to a minor, everyone came out of the woodwork to accuse him. There was no actual proof until Doc came out and said, “Yes, I was messaging a kid inappropriately.” But with the Chris situation, right off the bat, we have proof; we have screenshots and videos. But the community stayed silent, and that shows the hypocrisy of these people. When you have full proof in front of you, you stay silent because you’re afraid of losing your relationship with Jimmy. But with Doc, people already hate him, so people threw the book at him because it was fun. This should be bigger than Doc because it’s Chris from MrBeast. And it’s bigger because Doc messaged a seventeen-year-old, which is the age of consent in some states. Here, we have a twenty-year-old messaging a thirteen-year-old. And people aren’t nearly as mad?
People like NickMercs inspired me to speak out. With the followings some of us have, we have the opportunity to change things for the better. But they stay quiet instead of exposing these crazy people for what they are and calling them on their bullshit because they don’t want to miss their chance for money or relevance.
A: Do the things coming to light about Tyson surprise you? Is this the same person you knew when collaborating with MrBeast?
J: In a way, yes. If you had told me in 2019 that Chris would transition, I would’ve laughed. He was all about being a country boy, and his family was all farm workers. He was a man’s man type, wanting to use flamethrowers and stuff. And I never expected this, despite the weird things I saw. Even though Chris and I have our beefs, I never wish ill will on people, but yes, this surprised me.
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Thank you very much for speaking with me, Jake, and for telling this disturbing story as you know it. You can follow Jake the Viking on YouTube (where he also has a secondary channel, The Viking Reacts), Twitter/X, Instagram, and TikTok.
