MrBeast has been accused by five anonymous participants of creating “unsafe”, including sexual harassment employment conditions and misleading contestants about their odds of winning the $5 million grand prize for his new Amazon reality series.
The complaint alleges that MrBeast, the multimillion-dollar company behind YouTube’s top channel, failed to pay minimum wage, overtime, uninterrupted breaks, and rest periods for competitors whose “work was the entertainment product”.
In an email, a spokesperson for MrBeast (whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson) told The Associated Press that he did not have any comment on the lawsuit.
Donaldson’s “Beast Games,” billed as “the biggest reality competition,” was meant to bring the North Carolina-based content creator into the spotlight beyond his 316 million YouTube subscribers, who regularly watch his humorous challenges and receive lavish cash gifts.
The first Las Vegas shoot was criticized before it had even finished. Donaldson’s firms cast 2,000 people for an initial audition in July, and only half of them could go on to film the show in Toronto.
According to the lawsuit filed, contestants learned only after they arrived in Las Vegas that there were more than 1,000 participants. This significantly reduced their chances of winning. The lawsuit claims that the “false advertisement” violated California laws prohibiting sweepstakes operators to “misrepresent in any way the odds of winning a prize.”
Five anonymous competitors said they were also at risk of health problems due to “limited nutrition” and “insufficient medical personnel”.
In the filing, it is alleged that production staff created an “unhealthy” working environment for women and they were subjected to “sexual harassment” during the competition. According to a press statement from the lawyers of the competitors, these sections have been heavily redacted to comply with “confidentiality agreements” signed by them.
The lawsuit is a response to online influencers’ complaints that a poorly organized set left contestants with injuries and without regular access to medication and food. Some participants claim to have received MrBeast chocolate bars and two light meals per day.
MrBeast’s Team is also facing new allegations that they “knowingly misclassified”, the contestants’ status of employment to the Nevada Film Commission, to get a state credit for over $2 million.
The five competitors are seeking, among other reliefs, an order that MrBeast implement “workplace reforms,” and award “all wages due.”
Donaldson, who has been involved in several public relations crises, ordered last month a complete assessment of the internal culture at his YouTube empire and announced plans to implement sensitivity training for all employees.
The release date of the reality game show has not been announced.
