A Brazilian vlogger who helped guide MrBeast's social media strategy says she was fired after reporting sexual harassment and taking maternity leave.
GREENVILLE, N.C. (CN) — A former employee sued MrBeast’s companies Wednesday claiming she was wrongfully terminated after reporting sexual harassment and taking maternity leave.
Lorrayne Mavromatis filed a 24-page complaint against two of the YouTuber’s companies in North Carolina federal court, accusing her ex-boss of retaliating against her after she took federally protected medical leave and intentionally inflicting emotional distress.
Jimmy Donaldson, a wildly popular social media influencer and YouTuber who goes by MrBeast, began posting video game playthroughs on YouTube in 2012. He has since expanded his brand, forming media production companies, developing a reality TV competition called “Beast Games” and expanding into the food industry. The media giant operates out of Greenville, North Carolina, an area otherwise dominated by college students.
Beast Industries operates like a startup, Mavromatis says in her suit. The Brazilian-born vlogger was hired in August 2022 and promoted twice during her first year of employment, but claims she was demoted after complaining about sexual harassment, then told that her position was being eliminated three weeks after returning from maternity leave.
She notes the employee handbook distributed during her employment included sections saying, “If talent wants to draw a dick on the white board in the video or do something stupid, let them,” and “do everything you can to empower the boys when filming." Staff are also told there are no excuses for not getting work done, she says, including that the number of hours worked are irrelevant.
A spokesperson for MrBeast said the document she described as an employee handbook was more of a production guide to shape the company’s approach to content, and is no longer in use. The production company has undergone an overhaul since 2024, he said.
Mavromatis accuses male executives of making jokes in the office about female contestants of Beast Games who complained they did not have access to menstrual products and clean underwear while participating in the show. A male colleague told her to “shut up” and “stop talking” during a staff meeting, and she was excluded from all-male meetings, she adds.
Mavromatis also says former CEO James Warren, her direct supervisor, would make her meet him in his home for one-on-one meetings, where he would comment on “the way she looked in her clothes.” Mavromatis claims she asked Warren to interfere when a wealthy male client began flirting with her, but was told she should be honored to be the subject of a billionaire’s attention.
Mavromatis also claims that Warren told her that MrBeast wouldn’t meet with her for projects because “her appearance had a certain sexual effect on Jimmy.”
A spokeswoman denied this, calling it an “allegation fabricated for the sole purpose of sparking headlines.”
Mavromatis says she filed a complaint over sexual harassment and hostile work environment with the head of HR, Susan Parisher — MrBeast’s mother — in November 2023, and was demoted once the company found her claims unsubstantiated. She took maternity leave after giving birth at the end of March 2025, but was asked to work during this period and even traveled to Brazil for work eight weeks later.
The spokesperson added Mavromatis was not demoted, and other staff, including men, were impacted when the company eliminated roles.
Mavromatis wanted to participate in the trip to Brazil, and was given an additional two weeks of maternity leave to offset the work trip, the spokesperson said.
“This clout-chasing complaint is built on deliberate misrepresentations and categorically false statements, and we have the receipts to prove it,” he said. “There is extensive evidence — including Slack and WhatsApp messages, company documents, and witness testimony — that unequivocally refutes her claims. We will not submit to opportunistic lawyers looking to manufacture a payday from us.”
Mavromatis says she was on a conference call while in labor and the delivery room, and felt as though she had to work during her recovery in fear of retaliation. Finally, she was told her position was being eliminated less than three weeks after she returned to work.
MrBeast has been in North Carolina court previously, as the company filed suit against a former employee in April 2025. The video production company accused IT employee Leroy Nabors of taking thousands of confidential documents in the days leading up to his termination. The parties have reached an agreement ensuring all company data is removed from the former employee’s devices and accounts, and the case is paused while terms of that settlement are met.
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