MrBeast Sued For Alleged Sexual Harassment, Chronic Mistreatment On 'Beast Games' In Lawsuit
MrBeast and Amazon are being sued by former contestants of the YouTube star's reality competition show, "Beast Games."
Five contestants, who remain anonymous, filed a class-action lawsuit Monday alleging that "Beast Games" participants suffered chronic mistreatment, neglect, sexual harassment and more disturbing accusations during the production of the reality competition.
"Beast Games," which involves over 1,000 contestants competing to win $5 million, reportedly has a budget of $100 million.
The documents, obtained and published by Variety, alleged that Amazon, MrBeast's production company MrB2024, and the independent production firm Off One's Base "shamelessly exploited the labor" of contestants and did not pay them minimum wages and overtime.
According to the suit, they also suffered "unreasonable, unsafe, and unlawful" work conditions and were deprived of food, sleep, medical care, basic hygiene necessities and uninterrupted meal and rest breaks.
Women allegedly faced sexual harassment on set, and participants were exposed to "dangerous circumstances and conditions," the complaint stated.
The lawsuit cited an alleged handbook called "How to Succeed in MrBeast Production," which reflected the "boys-will-be-boys working conditions" promoted by the social media personality -- whose real name is James Stephen "Jimmy" Donaldson.
"If talent wants to draw a d**k on the white board in the video or do something stupid, let them... Really do everything you can to empower the boys when filming and help them make content. Help them be idiots," read one passage in the alleged guide.
The complaint claimed the handbook was "written in the first person from what appears to be Mr. Donaldson's perspective."
In a statement obtained by Variety, lawyers for the contestants who filed the suit said that several participants were hospitalized as a result of their involvement in the competition.
Many also "reported suffering physical and mental complications while being subjected to chronic mistreatment, degradation and, for the female contestants, hostile working conditions," the attorneys stated.
MrBeast and Amazon have not publicly addressed the lawsuit as of this writing.
The lawsuit wants MrBeast's company and Amazon to compensate all participants for alleged unpaid and overtime wages.
The five contestants are also seeking an hour of additional pay for each uninterrupted meal break not provided and punitive monetary damages.
"Beast Games" is set to be released on Prime Video, but a premiere date has not yet been announced.
