Being the leader of a YouTube empire like MrBeast or Linus Tech Tips can be big business and lead to some serious growing pains. With your audiences of millions or just even thousands, you can launch your brand, sell personalized merchandise, or just follow your wildest dreams. Starting your own coffee company or performing Shakespeare to appease your childhood idolizations? Your monetizable audience is more than welcome to help you grow on your journey.
But with this growth comes some obstacles, especially if you are used to just making videos on the internet. There can be terrible missteps, like with SuperMega, a YouTube comedy duo that was recently accused of running a toxic work environment and one of its members of sleeping with fans. Even platform giants like Jimmy Donaldson, known as MrBeast, can trip under their own weight. Some YouTube empires come with a lack of hubris, like the current scandal of Linus Sebastian, the face and star of the 15 million subscriber channel Linus Tech Tips.
But once you get big enough, scandal becomes part of the brand. …
