What’s Up With MrBeast Not Recognizing Taiwan In His Last Video? Memes About MrBeast’s World Map Explained
By Philipp Kachalin
YouTuber MrBeast has found himself in the middle of an entertaining nontroversy as people are making fun of his latest video, “Every Country On Earth Fights For $250,000!”
While the video itself is setting records on YouTube, it’s a political map shown in the video that has some raising eyebrows on social media, all because the map seemingly recognizes some disputed states and territories but not others.
Learn more about what MrBeast thinks about the diplomatic legitimacy of Taiwan, Palestine, and even Somaliland in our brief explainer.
What Is MrBeast Olympics?
MrBeast Olympics refers to a competition organized by YouTuber MrBeast in which he invited participants from every country on Earth to compete against each other in a series of five sports disciplines. The video of the competition was uploaded by MrBeast to YouTube on August 19th, and gained over 83 million views in three days, also setting the record for the most-viewed non-music video on YouTube in 24 hours.
Who Won In MrBeast “Every Country On Earth Fights For $250,000!” Video?
Participants from Eritrea, Iraq, Libya, Slovenia, Moldova, and Tajikistan made it to the final round in which they had to compete in a football shoot-out. In the very end, it was participants from Libya and Slovenia who had to face off against each other. After the Libyan participant successfully defended his goal, it was down to him to score against the Slovenian, which he confidently did, taking home the big prize.
Why Are There Memes About Mr. Beast Recognizing Palestine?
Shortly following the release of the video, users on X / Twitter noticed that in the video a political map of the world is shown several times, displaying which countries have been eliminated from the competition. Interestingly, the map in the video recognized some disputed states and territories but not others, such as recognizing Palestine but not Taiwan, and included a number of minor mistakes, such as displaying the flag of Georgia (the U.S. state) instead of the flag of Georgia (the country).
One user compiled the list of territories and states recognized (or not recognized) in MrBeast’s video.
Recognizes:
- Palestine
- Kosovo
- Somaliland
- de facto territory in Western Sahara
- Russian annexation of Crimea
- Puerto Rican sovereignty
- Taliban control of Afghanistan
Does NOT recognize:
- Taiwan
- Tibet
- Northern Cyprus
- Georgia’s flag
Unsurprisingly, the map from MrBeast’s video quickly became a subject of memes, as users joked that MrBeast was about to get a payout or social credit from China over not marking Taiwan as a country.
For the full history of “Every Country Fights for $250,000,” be sure to check out Know Your Meme’s encyclopedia entry for more information.
