new York
CNN
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Five contestants on a reality competition show hosted by MrBeast have filed a class action lawsuit against the YouTube star’s production company and Amazon, claiming they were denied pay, forced to participate in unsafe conditions and subjected to a “culture of misogyny and sexism.”
The lawsuit was filed Monday in a Los Angeles court by contestants of the Amazon Prime Video show “Beast Games,” announced in March, which includes “over 1,000 contestants, $5,000,000 in prize money and many other world records,” creator MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, said at the time.
The 54-page document details allegations that players were subjected to “unreasonable, unsafe and unlawful working conditions” that resulted in “several” participants being hospitalized. The plaintiffs said they were provided with “sporadic and sparse” meals and did not have “adequate access to hygiene products or medical care.”
There were also allegations of sexual harassment, but many specific examples of these allegations were redacted in the document.
The suit, which noted that the show has a $100 million production budget, said the show received an “illegal contract” and gave Nevada “false information” about misclassifying contestants as volunteers in order to receive tax credits. As a result, the show received $2.5 million in incentives from the state to film in Las Vegas, the suit said.
Last month, the New York Times detailed dangerous conditions experienced by unnamed contestants on the set of the show hosted by Donaldson, 26. They told the newspaper that some players left the arena on stretchers and witnessed vomiting and fainting spells, as well as “several hospitalizations.”
A spokesperson for MrBeast told the Times that filming had “unfortunately been complicated by the CrowdStrike incident, extreme weather conditions and other unexpected logistical and communications issues” and that a formal review of the show had been initiated.
MrBeast did not respond to CNN’s request for comment. Amazon declined to comment.
“Beast Games,” which does not yet have a release date, is set to be “the biggest game show in history” with the most contestants and the biggest cash prize, MrBeast previously said. That title is currently held by Netflix for its “Squid Game: The Challenge.”
MrBeast is one of the most popular YouTube channels on the platform, with 245 million subscribers. Over the past few years, each of his videos has easily been viewed over 100 million times, at times reaching half a billion. In addition to his stunt videos, Donaldson has also gained attention for his unique method of philanthropy.
That lawsuit in early August was preceded by controversy when he responded to a viewer’s comment in a 2017 video that he was “selling” black people. “The most I would pay would probably be 300,” he said in response.
A spokesman for MrBeast admitted that the star used “inappropriate language” in his humor.
