YouTuber MrBeast is being sued by former contestants on his upcoming game show over allegations of “chronic mistreatment,” including sexual harassment.
The 26-year-old, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, is the target of a class-action lawsuit, along with Amazon, which acquired the show.
Five contestants at the upcoming Beast Games are suing the internet personality, alleging “unreasonable, unsafe and unlawful employment conditions.”
They claim that production teams maintained “the strictest control” over them, including taking away their belongings and denying them food, water and medical attention to the point that several contestants were hospitalized for dehydration.
They also accuse the YouTuber of fostering a “toxic and hostile” work environment, particularly for female participants, as a result of “boys-will-be-boys working conditions that Mr. Donaldson apparently fosters,” according to the filing.
YouTuber MrBeast is being sued by contestants on his upcoming game show over allegations of “chronic mistreatment,” including sexual harassment
“I wanted to join because I was a fan of MrBeast and his videos made me smile during the COVID-19 pandemic,” one woman said.
‘I expected to be challenged, but I didn’t think I would be treated like anything, less than nothing.
“And as a woman, I can say that we felt in an absolutely hostile environment. Honestly, they couldn’t have respected us less as people, let alone as employees, even if they tried.”
In one example, the documents cite instructions from a manual Donaldson’s company allegedly uses, titled “How to Succeed in MrBeast Production.”
The alleged document encourages staff to “empower boys” by turning a blind eye to inappropriate behavior.
“If an actor wants to draw a penis on the video board or do something stupid, let them… Do everything you can to empower kids during filming and help them create content. Help them be idiots,” the alleged manual says.
The Beast Games were billed as a competition of 1,000 competitors for a $5 million cash prize, considered the largest in television and streaming history.
But the plaintiffs allege unpaid wages and expenses, arguing they were intentionally misclassified to circumvent California labor laws.
The 26-year-old, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, is the target of a class-action lawsuit, along with Amazon, which acquired the show.
Five anonymous competitors say they were subjected to a toxic work environment, including rampant sexual harassment against female contestants.
Other claims include that they were denied adequate rest and meals and that contestants suffered emotional distress in addition to physical injuries.
“Contestants were exposed to dangerous circumstances and conditions as a condition of their employment,” the suit states.
‘As local news reported, ‘many contestants… found that poor stage conditions, rather than the challenges themselves, were the main difficulty.’
The filing states that the competitors were “locked in confined spaces, in conditions where they were malnourished, overly tired and competing in stressful and grueling challenges for a cash prize that could change their lives.”
Beast Games was announced in March and candidates were asked to submit their applications. The launch date has not yet been made public.
“While the contestants knew going into the contract at the start of production that they were facing a potentially lengthy and challenging competition, they allege that they got far more than they bargained for,” attorneys for the anonymous “Beast Games” contestants said in a statement about the lawsuit.
MrBeast’s company is also accused of withholding food, water, medical supplies and hygiene products during production.
‘Several contestants ended up hospitalized, while others reported suffering physical and mental complications from being subjected to chronic abuse, degradation and, in the case of female contestants, hostile working conditions.’
The lawsuit was filed the same day that Rolling Stone published an investigation in which former contestants described dangerous working conditions that matched many of the claims in the lawsuit.
The filing alleges that “Beast Games’ production was so lacking in reasonable standards of care that MrBeast allegedly offered to cover contestants’ therapy.”
The document demands that Donaldson’s company pay the alleged unpaid wages and expenses, as well as an unspecified amount of damages.
DailyMail.com has contacted MrBeast and Amazon for comment.
