MrBallen

Jonathan Bartlett Allen (born October 1, 1988), known professionally as MrBallen, is an American internet personality and a former United States Navy SEAL. He is best known for his victim-oriented true crime stories and mysteries on YouTube. He co-founded Ballen Studios, and the exclusive rights to his podcast MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark and Mysterious Stories were licensed to Amazon Music in September 2022. However, as of February, 2024, the podcast is freely available across multiple platforms. Allen's work is also distributed through various platforms and media channels, including YouTube, Amazon Music, and TikTok, among others.

Early life
Allen was born in Quincy, Massachusetts to his parents Jessie Thuma and Scott Allen. He graduated from North Quincy High School in 2006. That year, he attended UMass Amherst for one semester before dropping out. He later returned to UMass Amherst and graduated with a bachelor's degree in philosophy in 2010.

Personal life
He was raised Catholic and is married to his wife, Amanda, whom he met in college. He is the father of three children. His mother is involved in his content creation.

Allen mentioned in an autobiographical video that his family put academic pressure on him and highly values academic achievement.

Allen's sister Evan Allen was a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for the Boston Globe. She left in December 2023 to become the full-time Head of Ballen Studios.

Military service
After graduating from the UMass Amherst, Allen visited a recruiting office in Quincy, Massachusetts and enlisted in the United States Navy, intending to become a Navy SEAL. Allen joined the SEAL Team Two in Virginia Beach in 2012. During his service, he was deployed to Afghanistan and later South America. In 2014, his team was attacked in Afghanistan and a grenade hit Allen, with shrapnel impacting his hips, and legs. He recovered, and in 2017, Allen medically retired from the Navy, earning a Purple Heart.

YouTube and TikTok
Allen launched his YouTube channel in 2020 and began filming true crime and mysteries. He attracts an audience of over 9 million subscribers on the platform. The YouTube channel averages 40 million monthly views. He was noted for his storytelling style that builds suspense throughout his videos.

Allen started experimenting with TikTok the same year he started his YouTube channel in 2020. His first viral video was about the Dyatlov Group. The video gained 5 million views the same day it was posted, prompting him to make additional TikToks about other unsolved mysteries.

In October 2022 Allen was nominated for four YouTube Streamy Awards, in the Creator of the Year, Breakout Creator, and Podcast Categories. He received the most nominations for a first-time nominee. Additionally, Allen and his nonprofit organization, MrBallen Foundation, was nominated for the creator for Social Good Award.

Podcast
In February 2022 Allen released MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories. The podcast ranked number one on Spotify's True Crime Podcasts chart. As of July 2022, the MrBallen podcast was downloaded over seven million times a month across all podcast platforms.

Ballen Studios
In 2022 Allen, along with Nick Witters, opened a production company Ballen Studios, with Witters serving as the company's CEO. The studio focuses on scaling existing ventures into new media forms and creating advertising streams. Ballen Studios also signed with the United Talent Agency (UTA).

Amazon Music Partnership
In October 2022, Allen and Nick Witters signed a licensing deal with Amazon Music to make the podcast exclusive to their platform. The three-year deal also includes first-look rights to any new content from Ballen Studios, which includes TV, Film, Books, and Games.

MrBallen Foundation
In 2022 Allen founded the charity organization "MrBallen Foundation" with the mission of honoring victims and supporting families of heinous crimes through education, training and financial support.

MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries
In September 2023, Allen released “MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries”, a podcast that shares medical horror stories and diagnostic mysteries that are designed to be intriguing and chilling. It covers a range of topics from unheard-of diseases and miraculous recoveries to strange medical mishaps and unexplainable deaths. “MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries” is available on platforms like Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. New episodes are published every Tuesday.