Five anonymous contestants from “Beast Games” have filed a class-action lawsuit against MrBeast and Amazon alleging sexual harassment, abuse and fraud during the filming of the contest.
Jimmy Donaldsonbetter known as MrBeastis considered the most famous youtuber in the world. In March of this year, he signed a deal to bring a new reality show to Prime Videothe Amazon platform: Beast Gamesbased on his hit YouTube show, where around 1,000 contestants compete in Las Vegas for a $5 million cash prize, the largest in television history.
Filming for the reality game show began in July, with contestants gathering for several days at the Allegiant Stadium in Nevada, where they ate, slept and did most of their daily activities.
However, a New York Times investigation published in August, reported by Deadline magazine, revealed that Beast Games contestants suffered a really negative experiencefar beyond the classic strange and risky challenges that the YouTuber usually proposes: some challenges consisted of traveling to outer space or burying themselves alive. Of course, all the contestants had to sign confidentiality agreements.
Class action lawsuit against MrBeast and Amazon for sexual harassment, abuse and fraud during the filming of the contest
But that’s not all, because the Vital Vegas column also reported on a long list of abuses against the contestants, who said they had not received adequate food or medical careand some of them had been injured after the complicated physical challenges, in addition to being forced to sleep outdoors due to the long duration of the shoot and the poor organisation of the production. In response to these accusations, a spokesperson for MrBeast told the Times that “they had initiated a formal review of the process and taken steps to ensure that we learn from this experience.”
However, it seems that the story is far from over, because MrBeast and Amazon are now facing a class-action lawsuit from five contestants on the upcoming Prime Video show, according to Deadline. The 54-page document, filed this Monday, September 16, in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges that the world’s most popular YouTuber and the company founded by Jeff Bezos “subjected contestants to unreasonable, unsafe and illegal working conditions, which led to several contestants being hospitalized”They also rely on allegations of sexual harassment, failure to prevent harassment, false advertising, and failure to pay minimum wages or overtime.
From a corporate standpoint, perhaps the most damaging thing for Amazon and Jimmy Donaldson (MrBeast) was their bending of the rules to secure tax credits in Nevada. This was apparently a move that allowed them to secure over $2 million in incentives, despite the reality show’s production budget being a whopping $100 million. In the lawsuit, they allege that “Beast Games caused Plaintiffs and the proposed class to enter into illegal and fraudulent contracts.” provide false information to the state of Nevada to obtain undeserved tax credits“.
Furthermore, the complaint adds that “the environment during Beast Games was so lacking in human standards that MrBeast and Amazon ended up volunteering to cover the cost of the contestants’ therapy“This is quite a departure from the promises MrBeast’s company made recently that they would hire a human resources director and require sensitivity training for all of their employees.
The Beast Games reality show is scheduled to premiere worldwide at the end of this year or early 2025 on Prime Video.
Source: Ambito
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