Celebrities
Jake Brigstock
Jul 26, 2024
SVG / VideoElephant
Ava Kris Tyson has hit the headlines after allegations were made against her that she groomed a minor.
Tyson is a long-term friend and collaborator with MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, YouTube's most subscribed personality and channel with more than 306 million subscribers on the video-sharing platform at the time of writing.
Allegations surfaced online that Tyson had groomed a minor; both have denied the allegations but that's not stopped MrBeast from saying he has "seen enough online and taken immediate action to remove Ava from the company, my channel and any association with MrBeast" and that a third party investigation will take place.
While Lava, who was the minor at the time, continues to say he "still believes [he is] not a grooming victim", he has "strongly condemned" messages and conversations that "should not have happened with me and any other minor" in a new statement after seeing screenshots and messages again.
"I was a minor in this situation and not the adult influencer who shouldn't have allowed this to happen, I did not see this wrong at the time," he added.
Influencers, streamers and personalities have all been reacting to what's been going on too.
Below is a rundown of everything we know so far.
What are the Ava Kris Tyson grooming allegations?
Allegations were made on YouTube channel Prism42 that Tyson met a 13-year-old boy during a MrBeast giveaway and went on to send inappropriate and sexual texts to him.
This was when Tyson identified as a man and was called Chris before she transitioned to a woman.
Screenshots shared along with these allegations have been reposted on social media and the allegations have been made again in other YouTube videos.
Further claims against Tyson are she also made inappropriate jokes directed towards the minor on social media and sent a picture message with an adult joke on it.
What did Ava Kris Tyson say?
Tyson posted a statement on X / Twitter announcing she would be stepping back from any involvement with MrBeast.
It said: "I would like to apologise for any of my past behaviour or comments if it hurt or offended anyone. It was not my intent. Seeing recent events we've mutually decided it's best I permanently step away from all things MrBeast and social media to focus on my family and mental health.
"I want to add, I never groomed anyone. The person who gets brought up in these accusations @LavaGS has vocally supported that they are false.
"Having said that, I humbly apologise to anyone I have hurt with my unacceptable social media posts, past actions and to those who may feel betrayed by how I used to act online.
"To lump these two factors together to create a narrative that my behaviour extended beyond bad edgy jokes is disgusting and did not happen. In past years, I have learned that my old humour is not acceptable. I cannot change who I was but I can continue to work on myself.
"I don't want these accusations to impact the hundreds of people who work at MrBeast, which is why I have stepped away."
What did the victim say?
The victim, who is known online as Lava, posted a number of Tweets vehemently denying the allegations.
He said: "Kris did nothing wrong. What's actually disgusting is you guys twisting things and making me a victim.
"Can you guys help me counter all these lies? Kris's messages to me were sent in public discord servers/groups but everyone is framing it as if it was 1 on 1. Kris literally did nothing wrong."
Further screenshots were posted of comments he gave to those who approached him.
He said: "I was NOT groomed by Kris Tyson. I did not meet Kris Tyson by myself, I meet [sic] Kris and the MrBeast crew with my family present. I ran a Discord with Kris Tyson when I was 13 and edgy inappropriate jokes were said that's it.
"The allegations are completely untrue, the person who made that up did it to create some fake narrative. There was never any wrongdoing."
Since looking back at the messages and screenshots that have been shared on social media, Lava has posted a more detailed statement, saying he "strongly condemns" messages that were sent and says they were "inappropriate and wrong".
He said: "Based on the recent screenshots and messages I would like to say a statement about the 'Discord'. This was five or six years ago and I thought I had a good memory of situation but I was wrong.
"After reading the chat logs, this stuff was inappropriate and wrong.
"I spoke based on my memory of the situation and I still do not remember these conversations but they definitely happened. These conversations should not have happened with people at the age I was at the time, I strongly condemn them.
"I still believe I am not a grooming victim but these conversations should not have happened with me and any other minor in this Siscord.
"I was a minor in this situation and not the adult influencer who shouldn't have allowed this to happen, I did not see this wrong at the time."
What did MrBeast say?
MrBeast has since posted a statement of his own on X / Twitter.
It said: "Over the last few days, I've become aware of the serious allegations of Ava Tyson's behavior online and I am disgusted and opposed to such unacceptable acts.
"During that time, I have been focused on hiring an independent third party to conduct a thorough investigation to ensure I have all the facts.
"That said, I've seen enough online and taken immediate action to remove Ava from the company, my channel and any association with MrBeast.
"I do not condone or support any of the inappropriate actions. I will allow the independent investigators the necessary time to conduct a comprehensive investigation and will take any further actions based on their findings."
After that, Lava praised MrBeast for the action he is taking.
He said: "I commend @MrBeast for taking this situation seriously and hiring a 3rd party investigator while also taking the appropriate actions of cutting ties with Ava.
"While the allegations involving my name aren't true, I feel there is still a lot of other allegations that deserve to investigated thoroughly."
What has been the reaction?
Many influencers, streamers and personalities have reacted to the accusations on social media.
Popular Twitch streamer Kai Cenat spoke about it during a live stream, calling Tyson a "weirdo".
"It's f****d up, it's weird, I don't care, that s**t is weird bro," he said.
"I'm like bro, what the f**k bro? Like, what is going on... How do you know the age of someone, knowing that you're a grown a*s man and still move forward bro, I don't understand it... I don't."
Adin Ross, a banned Twitch personality, said: "You know what? F**k it! Ws in the f*****g chat. I can now watch a MrBeast video in peace now. Let's f*****g go! I can now watch a MrBeast video in peace. Let's f*****g go! Come on, chat! Come on! I don't care."
Kick streamer Ac7ionMan said: "Bring back 2009 MrBeast."
Rumble streamer Sneako said: "I told you so."
Permanently banned Kick streamer Jon Zherka said: "I thought Ava died in 1945? What is reallllly going on?"
Tyson has also been subject to a lot of transphobic abuse from some social media users following the accusations.
What will happen next after the Ava Kris Tyson grooming allegations?
There is unlikely to be any further news from official channels while the third-party investigation MrBeast has organised takes place.
What happens next depends on what that investigation finds and until that is concluded, it's highly unlikely anything else will be known.
It's not known if MrBeast videos, which have Tyson included in them, will be taken down.
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