By Rafael EscaleraMontoto
(Reuters) -Mexican authorities have filed a lawsuit against a firm they say worked with popular YouTube creator MrBeast after he produced a video at the nation’s ancient pyramids, including Chichen Itza, that violated the terms of government permissions.
Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) said in a post late on Wednesday that it had given a firm representing MrBeast, who boasts 395 million subscribers on YouTube, permission to film at the sites but not monetize the video.
MrBeast, whose real name is James Donaldson, uploaded a video on May 10 entitled “I Explored 2000 Year Old Temples”.
In the video’s caption, he thanks local authorities, including the INAH, for allowing him to film, while he also touts products.
INAH said it was lodging the suit against a firm called Full Circle Media.
“The permission granted to Full Circle Media … did not authorize … the use of images of the archeological site for for-profit advertisements of private brands,” INAH said.
Reuters contacted a local production firm with that name but did not immediately receive a response. MrBeast also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In MrBeast’s video, the YouTuber and his team climb on pyramids and explore hidden tunnels in the southern states of Campeche and Yucatan.
They are escorted through the pyramids by several guides, including one person identified only as Arthur, who is seen wearing an INAH vest.
“I can’t believe the government is letting us do this,” MrBeast says at one point in the video.
(Reporting by Rafael Escalera Montoto; Editing by Kylie Madry and Joe Bavier)
