Saying NO to Mr. Beast

Casey Neistat on a Failed Shoot with MrBeast

Casey Neistat looks back on a disastrous 2022 shoot with MrBeast—and the persistence he believes helped Jimmy succeed.

From Antarctica to a Lion Cage

The video opens with footage from a MrBeast challenge: 50 YouTube creators are locked in a cube, and the last person to leave wins a million dollars for their subscribers. Casey didn’t win, but his visit to MrBeast’s operation prompts him to revisit an earlier adventure with Jimmy.

In 2022, Casey joined MrBeast’s crew in Cape Town for a planned shoot in Antarctica. After a week in COVID quarantine, they learned that someone on the advance team had tested positive, forcing the expedition to be canceled.

Jimmy didn’t dwell on the setback. That same evening, the crew began planning a completely different video: building a huge cage for Jimmy and Logan Paul to spend the night near lions. Casey marvels at how quickly the crew pulled off the complicated plan. He says Jimmy told him he hires people who can say “no”—people who recognize what seems impossible but can help figure out how to overcome it.

A Trip That Went Wrong

The trip’s brightest moment came during a safari, when Casey and the crew accompanied veterinarians checking on an elephant. But the shoot took a darker turn: Jimmy was already seriously ill from a Crohn’s disease flare-up. He pushed ahead anyway, but lasted only about four hours in the cage before being taken to the hospital.

Casey calls the whole trip an enormous failure: first Antarctica, then the lion shoot.

The Lesson in Persistence

Looking back, Casey says Jimmy didn’t get stuck on what went wrong. Even from his hospital bed, he was already planning what came next.

For Casey, that became the video’s central lesson: setbacks are part of ambitious work, and you only truly fail when you stop trying.

The story ends with a humorous reversal. Months later, Jimmy invited Casey to try Antarctica again, but Casey couldn’t go because of family commitments. Jimmy made the trip without him.

Personalities featured: Casey Neistat, MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson), Logan Paul.