YouTuber MrBeast, Amazon sued by Beast Games contestants over alleged ‘dangerous conditions’ on set 

LOS ANGELES – A group of contestants who participated in Beast Games, the reality competition show hosted by American YouTube personality MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, are suing him and the production companies behind the show, accusing them of exposing participants to “dangerous circumstances and conditions”.

The suit, filed by five anonymous contestants in Los Angeles Superior Court on Sept 16, made wide-ranging allegations about what occurred in July during the filming of Beast Games, when Donaldson’s production team and Amazon MGM Studios invited about 2,000 contestants to a football stadium in Las Vegas.

In addition to including complaints over inadequate food and medical care – accusations that were first reported on by The New York Times – the heavily redacted suit also claims that the defendants provided false information to state officials in Nevada to obtain “unearned tax credits”, and that contestants had not been appropriately compensated for their participation.

“I was really excited to be part of something that was going to be really big,” one of the plaintiffs, identified in the suit as Contestant 4, told the Times on Sept 18. “In the end, I just left feeling really insignificant, mistreated and traumatised. I still haven’t gotten paid. I just hope that no one else has to go through this.”

Since her time on the show, Contestant 4 added, she has sought mental health treatment for anxiety.

Another contestant in the suit, Contestant 5, said she felt “embarrassed and degraded” by the experience.

A representative for MrBeast declined to comment on the lawsuit. A representative for Amazon MGM Studios did not respond to a request for comment.

Donaldson, 26, rose to fame on YouTube with his provocative brand of philanthropy. In the videos he makes for his channel, he regularly gives away lavish prizes – cash, cars and a private island – to people in exchange for their participation in outlandish stunts and competitions of his invention.

Donaldson and Amazon MGM Studios announced Beast Games, a reality competition show styled after MrBeast’s popular YouTube videos, in March, advertising a prize of US$5 million (S$6.5 million) and a competitor pool of 1,000 people, according to an Amazon statement.

In July, an investigation by the Times found that contestants had faced unpleasant and potentially dangerous conditions on set, such as a lack of adequate food and medical care.

Multiple competitors suffered injuries from the physical challenges, and some contestants left the competition arena on stretchers. One person described seeing fellow contestants vomiting and appearing to pass out.

Those who spoke to the Times in July also described a production staff that was ill-prepared to handle the volume of competitors and at times unable to control the crowd. During one challenge, a contestant said she had feared being trampled.

Upon their arrival in Las Vegas, competitors also learnt that the number of participants was not 1,000, as they had been told earlier, but 2,000. Some people said they had felt misled about their odds of winning the grand prize.

In an earlier text message, a representative for MrBeast wrote that the shoot “was unfortunately complicated by the CrowdStrike incident, extreme weather and other unexpected logistical and communications issues”.

“If you know his videos, you know they always seem really great and exciting and grand,” Contestant 4 said of Donaldson. “However, things are not always what they seem.” NYTIMES