MrBeast and Amazon’s 'Beast Games' Competition Series Spurs Lawsuit Alleging 'Hostile Work Environment'
“My goal is to make the greatest show possible,” MrBeast, who has 316 million subscribers on YouTube alone, previously said of the series.
Several contestants who say they took part in MrBeast’s Prime Video reality competition series have taken legal action over what’s alleged to have been a “hostile work environment.”
Per a report from Variety’s Todd Spangler, the complaint in question was filed at the top of the week and sees MRB2024 LLC, a production company “believed to be owned in whole or part” by MrBeast, and Amazon Alternative LLC named in the allegations made by five unidentified contestants on the series. Off One’s Base LLC, another production company, is also named. The complaint calls for a jury trial and sees the following alleged reasons among those given for its filing: failure to pay minimum wages, failure to pay overtime, sexual harassment, negligent infliction of emotional distress, unfair business practices, and false advertising.
“Defendants exercised total control over the manner, means, and timing of the work performed by the contestants, by controlling essentially every aspect of their lives during the production of the show,” the complaint alleges, adding that contestants allege they were required to “miss other work if they had other jobs.”
Elsewhere in the 54-page complaint, it’s alleged that contestants were subjected to “dangerous” work conditions; furthermore, defendants are accused of facilitating a “culture and pattern and practice of sexual harassment,” with women contestants allegedly ‘forced to endure” what’s described as “severe embarrassment” during production. Alleged 24-hour shifts, notably “without any wages,” at least initially, are also mentioned.
The aim here is an eventual class action lawsuit. Complex has reached out to reps for MrBeast and Amazon for comment. This story may be updated.
Amid coverage of the suit on Wednesday, Steven Asarch, who previously penned an extensive piece on the alleged conditions of the production for Rolling Stone, reported that a crew member remained in the hospital after a piece of a tower fell on them last week.
In March, Prime Video announced it had ordered Beast Games to series, then billing it as “the biggest reality competition series ever.” Per initial press notes, the series sees 1,000 contestants all vying for a cash prize of $5 million, a record-breaking amount. MrBeast, whose YouTube subscriber count is at 316 million as of this writing, hosts the series and also serves as executive producer.
“My goal is to make the greatest show possible and prove YouTubers and creators can succeed on other platforms,” he said when announcing the Prime Video pickup. “Amazon gave me the creative control I need to try and make it happen. I hope to make the YouTube community proud.”
More recently, a spokesperson for MrBeast issued a statement in response to claims of unsafe filming conditions during a shoot in Nevada. Per the rep, the shoot was “complicated by” various issues, including the CrowdStrike outage in July and inclement weather.
