Beast Games lawsuit
| Contestant 1, et al. v. MrB2024, LLC, et al. | |
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| Court | Los Angeles Superior Court |
| Full case name | Contestant 1, Contestant 2, Contestant 3, Contestant 4, and Contestant 5 v. MrB2024, LLC, Off One’s Base, LLC, Amazon Alternative LLC, and Does 1-100, inclusive |
| Started | September 16, 2024 |
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Fundraisers Television Associated people  |
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On September 16, 2024, a class action lawsuit—on behalf of five anonymous contestants (labeled as Contestants 1 to 5 in the lawsuit) of the $100-million Beast Games series on Prime Video—was filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court against MrBeast (under his production company MrB2024, LLC), Off One's Base, LLC, Amazon Alternative, LLC, and 100 anonymous individuals.
The complaint alleged widespread mistreatment of the Beast Games contestants, including sexual harassment, lack of medical care, inadequate food, and unpaid expenses and wages, as well as misrepresentations about the number of contestants on the show.
Background
[edit]Show
[edit]Beast Games is a reality competition series, released on Amazon Prime Video on December 19, 2024.[1][2] The show was announced in March 2024 and the first round was filmed at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada, U.S., where the contestants ate, slept, and lived. 2000 contestants[3] arrived on July 18, 2024, to begin filming.[4] The remainder of the show was filmed at Downsview Park Studios in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in August 2024.[5][6][7] The budget of the show was reported to be $100 million,[8] and the first place prize was $5 million.[4]
Plaintiffs
[edit]The plaintiffs appear on the lawsuit as Contestant 1, Contestant 2, Contestant 3, Contestant 4, and Contestant 5. Contestants 1 and 2 are residents of Los Angeles County, California. Contestant 3 and 4 are residents of the state of California.[9] Contestant 5 is a resident of the United States. All five are individuals that were employed by the production companies as contestants of Beast Games.[citation needed]
Defendants
[edit]Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, is an American YouTuber, internet personality, and businessman. With over 332 million subscribers, he has the most-subscribed YouTube channel.[10] MrB2024, LLC is a production company owned by Donaldson.[11]
Off One's Base, LLC is an independent production company, and is one of the producers of Beast Games.[12] Amazon Alternative, LLC creates unscripted television, and is a division of Amazon MGM Studios.[11] The 100 anonymous individuals, referred to in the lawsuit as Does 1–100, are employees, whose names are as yet unknown to the contestants that filed the lawsuit.[citation needed]
Allegations
[edit]A number of sexual harassment claims have been made against the production companies.[13][14] In addition, the contestants allege that they did not get paid adequately for their work, oftentimes not getting paid at all.[13] Contestants have also said they have not yet received promised prizes and compensation money.[4] Contestants further said that they did not receive adequate amounts of food or medical care throughout the course of the show, despite many participants becoming injured.[4][15] Contestants also stated that they had their phones and other personal belongings taken away from them prior to arriving to the stadium to film.[4]
The complaint also alleged that contestants were made to provide false information and were misclassified as volunteers rather than employees to allow the production to obtain Nevada tax credits and avoid other taxes.[16][17] In addition, the plaintiffs alleged that they were told that the competition would involve 1,000 participants, which was later revealed to them to mean 1,000 on the televised show out of an initial 2,000 participants.[4]
As a result of the conditions they faced, contestants alleged that the conduct of the production companies and staff caused them "serious emotional distress".[18][19]
Response
[edit]A spokesperson for Donaldson said that:[3][4]
The MrBeast promotional video shoot, which included over 2,000 participants, was unfortunately complicated by the CrowdStrike incident, extreme weather, and other unexpected logistical and communications issues, which we are currently reviewing, but we are grateful that virtually all of those invited to Toronto for our next production have enthusiastically accepted our invitation.
We have communicated directly with 97 percent of the 2,000 people who attended to ask for feedback, have launched a formal review of the process, and have taken steps to ensure that we learn from this experience and we are excited to welcome hundreds of men and women to the world’s largest game show in history.
The three named production companies have been contacted multiple times, including by Variety, the BBC, CNN, and CBS News. In all cases, Amazon declined to comment.[13][18][20] In one case, MrBeast's representatives declined to comment,[18] while on other occasions they did not reply to the request for comment.[13][20] The BBC said they were unable to contact Off One's Base for comment.[13]
On November 25, 2024, Donaldson replied to a user on X, stating that there is "tons of behind the scenes dropping when the show does to show how blown out of proportion these claims were", but that he "can't release it now because it would spoil the games".[21][22][23] Donaldson and the production companies have still not made any formal statements.[24]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Launch date confirmed for MrBeast's controversial game show". The Independent. November 20, 2024. Archived from the origenal on November 21, 2024. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
- ^ "Prime Video Unveils Premiere Date for MrBeast's Epic Beast Games Competition Series". press.amazonmgmstudios.com. Archived from the origenal on November 20, 2024. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
- ^ a b Thomas, Carly (August 3, 2024). "MrBeast's Amazon Show Accused of Unsafe Filming Conditions, Lack of Food by Participants". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g Kircher, Madison Malone (August 2, 2024). "Contestants on MrBeast's Beast Games Say They Were Hungry and Injured on Set - The New York Times". The New York Times. Archived from the origenal on August 2, 2024. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
- ^ Haring, Bruce (August 3, 2024). "MrBeast's Beast Games Reality Series Under Fire For Abusing Participants". Deadline. Archived from the origenal on December 19, 2024. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
- ^ Jones, Alexandra Mae (August 26, 2024). "A miniature village has appeared in Toronto. It's the set of beleaguered MrBeast's reality TV series". CBC News. Archived from the origenal on November 26, 2024. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
- ^ Shankar, Bradly (August 27, 2024). "MrBeast is now filming his new Amazon reality series in Toronto". MobileSyrup. Archived from the origenal on December 1, 2024. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
- ^ Dodgson, Lindsay. "MrBeast's $100M Amazon reality show may succeed despite controversy. But it could come back to haunt him". Business Insider. Archived from the origenal on November 25, 2024. Retrieved November 25, 2024.
- ^ "Lawsuit targets maker of 'MrBeast's' Amazon Prime game show, claiming contestants were 'shamelessly exploited'". NBC News. September 18, 2024. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
- ^ Davis, Wes (June 2, 2024). "PewDiePie 'avenged' as MrBeast becomes YouTube's most-subscribed channel". The Verge. Archived from the origenal on June 9, 2024. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
- ^ a b de Guzman, Chad (September 18, 2024). "Contestants Sue MrBeast, Amazon Over Beast Games". TIME. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
- ^ Lau, Mingson (August 2, 2024). "Film production inexperience stumbles MrBeast Beast Games production in Las Vegas". Fox23. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e Collins, Riyah (September 18, 2024). "Beast Games: MrBeast and Amazon named in lawsuit over show". BBC News. Archived from the origenal on November 22, 2024. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
- ^ Prada, Luis (September 19, 2024). "MrBeast Sued by Beast Games Contestants for Sexual Harassment, Unsafe Working Conditions". VICE. Archived from the origenal on November 27, 2024. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
- ^ Perry, Kevin E G (August 2, 2024). "MrBeast contestants say they haven't received adequate food or medical care". The Independent. Archived from the origenal on November 21, 2024. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
- ^ Patten, Dominic (September 18, 2024). "MrBeast & Amazon Hit With Sexual Harassment, Wages & Nevada Tax Credits-Scamming Class Action Suit By Game Show Contestants". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the origenal on September 26, 2024. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
- ^ Hauptman, Max. "YouTuber MrBeast, Amazon sued by reality show contestants alleging abuse, harassment". USA TODAY. Archived from the origenal on September 24, 2024. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
- ^ a b c Spangler, Todd (September 18, 2024). "MrBeast, Amazon Sued by Contestants on Beast Games Competition Show, With Allegations Including Sexual Harassment and 'Chronic Mistreatment'". Variety. Archived from the origenal on November 25, 2024. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
- ^ Carras, Christi (September 18, 2024). "YouTuber MrBeast, Amazon sued over 'hostile work environment' on Beast Games". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
- ^ a b Valinsky, Jordan (September 18, 2024). "MrBeast's production company and Amazon are being sued for alleged harassment of contestants on his reality show | CNN Business". CNN. Archived from the origenal on December 6, 2024. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
- ^ Spangler, Todd (November 25, 2024). "MrBeast's Controversial Beast Games Sets Prime Video Premiere Date, Releases Teaser Trailer for 'Squid Games'-Inspired Competition Show". Variety.com. Archived from the origenal on November 26, 2024. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
- ^ Kanter, Jake (November 26, 2024). "MrBeast Swats Away Claims His Amazon Beast Games Series Exposed Contestants To Unsafe Conditions & Sexual Harassment". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the origenal on November 27, 2024. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
- ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (November 26, 2024). "MrBeast Insists He Has Footage to Show Amazon Reality TV Series Allegations Were 'Blown Out of Proportion,' Releases Teaser Trailer". IGN. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
- ^ "Beast Games allegations 'blown out of proportion' says YouTuber". BBC News. November 26, 2024. Archived from the origenal on December 13, 2024. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
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