Subhi Agrawal
MrBeast and Amazon are being sued in a class-action lawsuit by five anonymous contestants from the Beast Games reality competition show.
Allegations Of Chronic Mistreatment
YouTube sensation MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson and who has over 316 million subscribers, teamed up with Amazon to create what was billed as the largest reality show ever, featuring over 1,000 contestants and a $5 million prize.
On September 16, a complaint was submitted to the Los Angeles Superior Court accusing the contestants of enduring “chronic mistreatment,” sexual harassment, emotional distress, and other issues. The details are outlined in the redacted version of the complaint.
The class-action lawsuit on behalf of all the contestants also seeks compensation for alleged unpaid wages, expenses, and monetary damages incurred during their participation in the show.
The lawsuit claims that MrBeast’s production company, Off One’s Base LLC, did not pay overtime or minimum wages, failed to offer uninterrupted meal and rest breaks, neglected to provide workers’ compensation benefits, and exposed contestants to hazardous conditions, “dangerous circumstances and conditions as a condition of their employment.”
“Like A Hostile Environment For Us”
According to Variety, one of the female plaintiffs, referred to in the complaint as “Contestant 5,” stated, “I wanted to join because I was a fan of MrBeast and his videos made me smile during the COVID-19 pandemic. I expected to be challenged, but I didn’t think I would be treated like nothing — less than nothing. And as one of the women, I can say it absolutely felt like a hostile environment for us. We honestly could not have been respected less — as people, much less employees — if they tried.”
Although many aspects of the complaint are redacted, it asserts that “the Beast Games Production was so void of standards of reasonable care that MrBeast® allegedly offered to cover the contestants’ therapy.”
Although Amazon has promised that Beast Games will be “the world’s largest live gameshow,” the show still does not have a release date.
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