MrBeast’s production company and Amazon are being sued for alleged harassment of contestants on his reality show
By Jordan Valinsky, CNN
New York (CNN) — Five contestants competing on a MrBeast-hosted reality competition show have filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against the YouTube star’s production company and Amazon, claiming they were denied pay, forced to participate in unsafe conditions and subjected to a “culture of misogyny and sexism.”
The lawsuit was filed Monday in a Los Angeles court by participants on the Amazon Prime Video show called “Beast Games,” which was announced in March. It features “over 1,000 contestants, $5,000,000 prize, and many other world records,” the creator MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, said at the time.
The 54-page document describes allegations of players being subjected to “unreasonable, unsafe, and unlawful employment conditions” that led to “several” contestants being hospitalized. Plaintiffs said they were fed “sporadically and sparsely” and not given “adequate access to hygienic products or medical care.”
Sexual harassment was also alleged, but many specific examples of the claims were redacted in the document.
The lawsuit, which noted the show has a production budget of $100 million, said that the show obtained an “illegal contract” and provided “false information” to Nevada about misclassifying contestants as volunteers to get tax credits. As a result, the show got $2.5 million in incentives from the state to film in Las Vegas, the lawsuit claims.
Last month, a New York Times report detailed some claims of dangerous conditions from unnamed contestants on the set of the show hosted by the 26-year-old Donaldson. They told the newspaper that some players left the arena on stretchers and witnessed vomiting and people passing out, as well as “several hospitalizations.”
A spokesperson for MrBeast told the Times that the shoot was “unfortunately complicated by the CrowdStrike incident, extreme weather and other unexpected logistical and communications issues” and that a formal review of the show had started.
MrBeast nor Amazon immediately responded to CNN’s request for comment about the lawsuit.
“Beast Games,” which doesn’t yet have a release date, is supposed to be “the largest game show in history” with the most contestants and the biggest cash prize, MrBeast previously said, a title currently held by Netflix for its “Squid Game: The Challenge.”
MrBeast is one of the most popular YouTube channels on the platform, with 245 million subscribers. In recent years, each of his videos easily surpasses 100 million views, and at times has pushed half a billion. In addition to his stunt videos, Donaldson has garnered attention for his unique method of philanthropy.
Controversy swirled prior to this lawsuit in early August when a 2017 video showed him responding to a viewer who commented about “selling” Black people. “The most I would pay is probably 300,” he said in response.
A spokesperson for MrBeast acknowledged the star used “inappropriate language” in his humor.
The-CNN-Wire
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