YouTuber MrBeast, Amazon sued by show contestants for alleged abuses

MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, is the star of the most-subscribed channel on YouTube with more than 316 million followers. Photo / @mrbeast

Warning: Mentions abuse.

The lawsuit alleges sexual harassment and injury on the set of the Amazon Prime reality competition show Beast Games, based on the internet star’s videos.

MrBeast, the 26-year-old multi-millionaire YouTuber who is estimated by Forbes to be the platform’s highest earner, is being sued alongside Amazon by contestants of his reality competition show, Beast Games, for alleged workplace abuses.

Five anonymous contestants of the show filed a class-action lawsuit against the YouTuber, Amazon and related production companies at the Los Angeles Superior Court, claiming insufficient wages, unpaid overtime and “gross mistreatment and neglect” on set, according to a release from the plaintiffs’ attorneys.

Beast Games, slated for Amazon Prime, was filmed in Las Vegas and tasked more than 1000 contestants with completing various challenges for an ultimate prize of US$5 million. Amazon MGM touted it as the largest prize in television and streaming history, and the show taps into a playbook for which MrBeast is already universally known: mobilising crowds to take part in extreme stunts or challenges on camera in exchange for lavish prizes.

The lawsuit alleges that several participants were hospitalised or suffered physical injuries during show challenges, and that some were deprived of basic needs such as food, sleep and medical care. A copy of the legal complaint, seen by The Washington Post, also mentions allegations of sexual harassment “throughout the production”. However, many details describing the purported incidents have been redacted for privacy and “to comply with defendants’ confidentiality provisions”, according to a release provided by the plaintiffs’ lawyers.

“The female contestants particularly and collectively suffered as a result of the defendants’ actions,” the complaint stated. “The Beast Games work environment systematically fostered a culture of misogyny and sexism where production staff did nothing.”

MrBeast and Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.

MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, is the star of the most-subscribed channel on YouTube with more than 316 million followers, according to internet rankings website Social Blade. Forbes estimated that he made US$82m between June 2022 and June 2023, and he also owns one of the most followed accounts on TikTok.

MrBeast spent seven days underground in November 2023, an extreme stunt that saw him reduced to tears and sparked fears for his mental and physical health.

In his YouTube videos, MrBeast has given away a $300,000 Lamborghini, a suburban house, a private island and hundreds of thousands of dollars (or more). Challenges on his channel have included attempting to spend 100 days in a purported nuclear bunker, allowing a thousand spiders to crawl over one’s body or sitting in a bathtub full of live snakes. Other videos, however, have been centred on charity and philanthropy, such as attempting to get an entire shelter of dogs adopted or building houses for those in need.

In the lawsuit, attorneys and plaintiffs allege that some Beast Games contestants have not been reimbursed for business-related travel expenses and that the amount they were paid does not meet minimum wage requirements, especially considering the number of hours they worked. It also accuses the defendants of “providing false information to the State of Nevada to obtain unearned tax credits”, and alleges that contestants were misled about their odds of winning the US$5m prize despite putting their lives on hold to film.

Purported complaints about the show have already been surfacing on social media, in local media reports and in an article published by the New York Times, which described conditions similar to those outlined in the lawsuit.