Martha Stewart Gives Surprising Verdict On MrBeast’s Empire

Martha Stewart may be considered one of the original influencers, but even she initially had questions about MrBeast and his staggering online reach. The 85-year-old lifestyle icon revealed that she recently spent three days with the YouTube superstar, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, while discussing what separates a genuinely successful influencer from someone simply filling space online.

Although Stewart admitted she didn’t have a definitive formula for digital success, she suggested MrBeast accomplished something significant by recognizing an unmet need and creating content that keeps billions of viewers entertained.

Martha Stewart Spent Three Days With MrBeast

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Stewart reflected on MrBeast’s influence during a recent interview with AARP The Magazine. “I don’t really know, because so many people are influencing so many millions of people in very odd ways today,” she said when asked what makes a successful influencer.

The media mogul then revealed that she had recently spent time with the 28-year-old creator. “I just spent three days with [28-year-old media personality] MrBeast. Who the heck is MrBeast? Why is he getting billions of hits on his YouTube channels?” Stewart asked.

She did not disclose why they spent three days together or whether the meeting was connected to an upcoming collaboration. However, Stewart appeared to leave with a better understanding of why MrBeast has built such a massive audience. “He struck a chord. He found a void that wasn’t being filled, and he filled it,” she explained.

The Lifestyle Icon Says MrBeast Is Not ‘Wasting People’s Time’

Stewart’s assessment was about more than MrBeast’s enormous view count. She questioned whether every popular online personality deserves to be considered genuinely influential simply because they have millions of followers or attract significant attention. “You have to study each influencer and see, are they really influencing, or are they just wasting people’s time?” Stewart said.

When it came to MrBeast, she delivered a favorable verdict. “He does not seem to be wasting people’s time. He seems to be entertaining and intriguing,” Stewart added.

Rather than dismissing the younger creator’s unconventional approach, Stewart seemed interested in why it works. For her, the important distinction was whether the content gave viewers something meaningful enough to maintain their attention. MrBeast’s ability to be both entertaining and intriguing seemed to place him on the right side of that divide.

Martha Stewart Believes Audiences Want To Know The Person Behind A Brand

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Stewart also explained why remaining the face of her own brand has been so effective throughout her career. “People want to know you. They want to know that you’re part of their daily life, important to them in some specific way,” she said.

That connection has remained central to Stewart’s business, even as the platforms used to reach her audience have changed dramatically. Before influencers regularly shared daily videos, personal updates, and behind-the-scenes content, Stewart built familiarity through television appearances, books, and her “Martha Stewart Living” magazine.

Her brand became closely associated with her personality, tastes and expertise. Audiences were not merely receiving household advice from a company. They were receiving it from Martha Stewart herself. That dynamic mirrors a major part of modern influencer culture, where the relationship between a creator and the audience can matter as much as the content.

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Stewart’s influence generated memorable moments years before today’s social media ecosystem. During the AARP interview, she was reminded that she has been called the “OG” of influencers and that her famous phrase, “It’s a good thing,” carried meme-like appeal before internet memes became a daily part of popular culture.

“That was something I said on my very first TV show in 1993. I painted a handle of a piece of garden equipment orange, and I said, ‘Now this will never get lost in the garden. It’s a good thing,’” Stewart recalled.

While today’s creators can turn an unexpected line into a viral sound or trending clip within hours, Stewart built that kind of recognition through traditional media. Her television presence and distinctive delivery gave audiences phrases, tips, and ideas they could immediately associate with her brand.

Martha Stewart Built Influence Before Instagram And YouTube

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Stewart also reflected on how different the media landscape was when she started building her audience. “When I first started, we didn’t have Instagram, we didn’t have Twitter, we didn’t have Facebook. All that stuff came later,” she explained.

Without those platforms, “Martha Stewart Living” became one of her most important ways of maintaining a lasting relationship with readers. “So the magazine, Martha Stewart Living, was very important to people. They read every single word and kept every issue,” Stewart said.

The publication did not disappear from readers’ lives after they finished an article. Many treated each edition as a resource they could save and consult again. “People still come up to me all the time and say, ‘I have every issue of your magazine, so I still refer to it all the time,’” she shared. “It’s exactly what you want to have happened.”

After three days with MrBeast, Stewart may still be asking how anyone generates billions of YouTube views, but she appears convinced that his influence is more than empty internet attention.