MrBeast‘s production arm has been sued by a former executive at the company, who alleges sexual harassment and pregnancy discrimination after she was fired upon returning from maternity leave.
The executive, Lorrayne Mavromatis, describes Beast Industries as a “boy’s club” in which multiple female employees were sexually harassed by their supervisors. She alleges company leaders, one of whom allegedly dismissed concerns about unwelcome touching by a producer, repeatedly made comments about their appearance.
Mavromatis, in a complaint filed on Wednesday in North Carolina federal court, alleges violations of the Family and Medical Leave Act, wrongful discharge and intentional infliction of emotional distress. It doesn’t name MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, or bring a claim for sexual harassment.
In a statement, the company said the “clout-chasing complaint” advances “deliberate misrepresentations and categorically false statements” that could be disproved. “There is extensive evidence — including Slack and WhatsApp messages, company documents, and witness testimony — that unequivocally refutes her claims,” it added.
Mavromatis was hired in 2022 as head of Instagram and later promoted to head of creative, a role in which she was paid $250,000 for managing MrBeast’s verticals division, according to the complaint. She says she was subject to multiple retaliatory demotions and transfers.
In one incident, Mavromatis alleges former CEO James Warren harassed her when he made her meet at his home for one-on-one meetings while dismissing concerns about a client’s sexual advances. And when she asked why Donaldson wouldn’t work with her on certain projects, he told her that she is a “beautiful woman” and that her “appearance had a certain sexual effect on Jimmy,” the lawsuit said.
The company in a statement said the allegation was “fabricated for the sole purpose of sparking headlines” and for “a multimillion dollar payday.”
In the complaint, Mavromatis points to a handbook distributed to employees, which states that “no does not mean no” and the “amount of hours you work is irrelevant.” She alleges the company didn’t have a process for reporting incidents of sexual harassment and discrimination in 2023, when she made a complaint against Warren and Donaldson.
After an investigation, the lawsuit says Mavromatis was demoted to social media manager of merchandise. And when she went on maternity leave shortly after the demotion last year, she was asked by her supervisor to work on multiple projects, one of which involved a trip to Brazil, according to the complaint. Mavromatis says was terminated three weeks after returning from leave.
Asked about the lawsuit at the Time100 Summit in New York, Donaldson stressed that he’s “brought in more experienced people” as his business grew into a major media outfit with 750 employees. He stressed he wasn’t “the best to set up culture at that scale, so the new C-suite and stuff have been amazing to have.”
A source familiar with the situation said the company in March 2025 distributed a formal company handbook that detailed Family and Medical Leave Act rights, among other things, as Beast Industries instituted formal processes and policies.
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