Popular internet creator Ava Kris Tyson is stepping back from the limelight following drama surrounding potential grooming allegations.
The transgender YouTube star has worked in the spotlight for the last decade and change, being a close associate (and constant collaborator) with James "MrBeast" Donaldson (aka the biggest YouTuber on the platform).
Tyson was a close childhood friend of Donaldson and was hired by the creator as his channel started to take off in the mid-2010s. She then built a following of her own during her time in the public eye.
Ava Kris Tyson Drama Explained
MrBeast's close associate, Ava Kris Tyson, found herself in hot water in mid-July following allegations of grooming being levied at the YouTube star.
This all stems from two videos focused on the online personality, alleging she previously had an inappropriate relationship with a minor. This included potentially sexually charged messages online and a reported meetup between the (at the time) 20-year-old and 16-year-old, which many people have used as the linchpin in their argument for presuming Tyson guilty.
The victim in question, known as LavaGS online, has denied any foul play involved. The MrBeast fan has worked with the company on several projects in his early teens, which is how he became connected to Tyson in the first place.
Lava spoke with popular YouTuber Ludwig Anders Ahgren about this alleged infamous RV meetup her detractors have brought up, saying, "It was not weird in any way," and it had been a planned meeting with his family while on vacation:
"Basically, Lava's family vacations in North Carolina and wanted to meet up with the people he had been working with for years. At the time, he was 16 or so, and he had been working with the MrBeast team and MrBeast Gaming for a couple of years, at this point. So, this is them in the RV. This is a picture that he gave me directly. Those feet down there are actually his dad's feet, because he went with his family. So, it was not weird in any way, shape, or form."
From the statements provided to him by the alleged victim, Ahgren presumes this meeting was just a case of someone wanting "to hang out with the people that presumably he idolized, looked up to, and also worked for:"
"He actually ended up working on a couple of MrBeast videos while he was there, I believe some 'Minecraft' videos, in the RV. But it was with his family. Nothing weird happened. It was totally just to hang out with the people that presumably he idolized, looked up to, and also worked for."
Following these claims, Tyson quickly removed herself from social media, taking down her personal YouTube channel and taking a step back from social media.
After several days of the drama swirling, the online creator issued a statement on X (formerly Twitter), writing that she would like to apologize for "[her] past behavior or comments if it hurt or offended anyone" and that she would be permanently resigning from the MrBeast team:
"I would like to apologize for any of my past behavior 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 never groomed anyone," Tyson added, citing Lava's denial of any foul play:
"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."
Despite this, Tyson continued to apologize for "unacceptable social media posts, past actions, and to those who may feel betrayed by how[she] used to act online:"
"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."
She closed by saying that "edgy jokes" she had previously posted online and potential grooming allegations are not to be connected and does not want the controversy to "impact the hundreds of people who work at MrBeast:"
"To lump these two factors together to create a narrative that my behavior extended beyond bad edgy jokes is disgusting and did not happen.
In past years, I have learned that my old humor 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."
James "MrBeast" Donaldson would later reveal he was looking into the allegations as well, writing in a post that he was "disgusted and opposed to such unacceptable acts" to which Tyson had been attached (whether rightly or wrongly):
"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."
Donaldson then said that he had "seen enough online and taken immediate action to remove [Tyson] from the company," severing his connection with the creator of the allegations:
"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."
LavaGS (the alleged victim of this crime) denies anything happened between him and Tyson; however, after coming out fervently in defense of the creator initially, he has had a change of heart since.
In response to Donaldson's statement, Lava wrote, "I commend MrBeast for taking this situation seriously," and while "the allegations involving my name aren’t true, I feel there is still alot of other allegations that deserve to investigated thoroughly:"
"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 alot of other allegations that deserve to investigated thoroughly."
In another post on X, Lava said that while looking back, he "thought [he] had a good memory of the situation," but he may have been wrong. He wrote that the interactions between the two may have been "inappropriate and wrong:"
"Based on the recent screenshots and messages I would like to say a statement about the 'Discord.' This was 5 or 6 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," Lava surmised, positing that Tyson "shouldn’t have allowed this to happen:"
"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 discord. 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."
Lava then followed this up with another lengthy post on his social channels.
He denied that anything beyond a bit of edgy joking online ever happened between him and Tyson. However, looking deeper into the chat logs that have been made public, there may be other questionable instances worthy of investigation, including claims of sexual assault in several cases.
He called the leaked logs "not as nearly damning as everyone thought they would be," but there are "a few individuals in the leaks who deserve to be investigated:"
"I have seen the 'Leaks,' while not as nearly damning as everyone thought they would be. There's a few individuals in the leaks who deserve to be investigated. One name Milk who is an irl friend of Kris and the same age as them. Was someone me and [Brain Freak] grew to despise and I'm sure he will agree with me on that. He was a disturbed individual and we fought tooth and nail with Kris to get him banned. Which did eventually happen. I encourage you all to read them thoroughly."
Lava said that he worked with the MrBeast team (including Tyson) from 2017 to 2021, and had not had contact with anyone from the team since then.
Lava remarked that in that time, "There were some strange conversations that happened," but "[he is] not a victim:"
"There were some strange conversations that happened, I'm honestly glad these leaks came out as they show a very different time of the internet. Hopefully these leaks can be an effective piece of evidence for the 3rd party investigation MrBeast has hired.
I again am stating that I personally am not a victim, but there many other allegations (Shadman, SA, Victims, etc) I have seen that I strongly condemn and hope they are investigated and the proper action is taken."
It should be noted that all of these allegations remain unsubstantiated and await further scrutiny by the investigating parties.
