The project, which involved two thousand people, was promoted as the largest show of its kind, but even before its premiere, complaints started pouring in about the extremely difficult conditions on set and the poor treatment by the project's team. Now, several participants have filed a lawsuit, leveling a series of accusations against the show's organizers, including creating a hostile atmosphere that encouraged sexual harassment.
The lawsuit claims that the show had a toxic atmosphere, particularly impacting women. Female participants were forced to endure great shame due to the conditions on set, as stated in the document. One participant stated, "I expected there to be difficulties, but I didn't expect to be treated as if I didn't matter. As a woman on the show, the atmosphere felt hostile to us. Honestly, even if they had tried, they couldn't have surpassed themselves in their disrespectful treatment towards us."
It is alleged that women on the show became victims of sexual harassment, and the show's team not only knew about it but also allowed such behavior towards the participants. "Apparently, this was allowed due to orders from above," the lawsuit states.
As one of the arguments in favor of the show's organizers being directly involved in creating a hostile atmosphere that led to sexual harassment, the plaintiffs provide an excerpt from a document they call the MrBeast staff handbook, previously made public by blogger Rosanna Pansino. According to her, its authenticity was confirmed by two of Donaldson's employees. The document states, "Boys will be boys. If he wants to draw a penis on a whiteboard in a video or do something stupid, let him... Do everything in your power to inspire the guys during filming and help them create content. Help them be idiots." The handbook is written from the perspective of the blogger himself. The plaintiffs argue that such recommendations laid the foundation for the occurrence of sexual harassment towards women on the show.
The specific details about incidents of sexual harassment are hidden from public access in the lawsuit, as are other details. Additionally, the names of the plaintiffs are not disclosed, with the intention of meeting the strict confidentiality requirements placed on the show's participants and protecting their privacy. There are five plaintiffs in total, all of whom are U.S. residents, with two of them identified as women. The defendants are MRB2024, an organization presumed to be partially or wholly owned by the blogger himself, and Off One's Base, along with Donaldson, the creators of the show. The statement mentions that the plaintiffs filed the lawsuit not only on their own behalf but also on behalf of all Beast Games participants.
The lawsuit focuses on the argument that the reality show participants were effectively hired employees of Donaldson's company and other project creators. According to the claim, the organizers coerced the show's stars into signing unethical contracts with illegal conditions, designed to allow the companies to avoid fulfilling labor law obligations and paying associated employment taxes.
The plaintiffs demand that the production companies-defendants and Amazon compensate the show's participants for all their due payments, including minimum wages, overtime pay, compensation for missed meal breaks, and more. Furthermore, the plaintiffs seek a court order to enforce reforms and provide training to the show's staff to prevent further instances of harassment.
James (or Jimmy) Donaldson started his YouTube channel in 2012. In November 2022, he became the world's most popular YouTuber, surpassing another famous influencer. MrBeast gained fame primarily through videos in which he helps strangers. The blogger gave money to the heroes of his videos, gifted them, paid for medical operations, and even gave a house to a stranger. He is also known for his environmental initiatives, promoting the Team Trees mass tree-planting campaign and donating millions of dollars to clean the World's oceans.
Donaldson often conducts large-scale challenges and competitions. For example, in 2021, following the popularity of the Korean series "Squid Game," he organized a similar competition with over 456 participants, and the winner received $456,000.
The announcement of the Beast Games reality show in collaboration with Amazon created a huge buzz among MrBeast's multi-million audience (his YouTube channel has 316 million subscribers). However, soon after the start of filming, The New York Times published an article revealing numerous complaints from show participants about the poor conditions on set.
The participants claimed that they were denied proper meals (without prior warning), and some were not provided with medication on time. "We signed up to be part of the show, but we didn't sign up to be treated as if we didn't matter, as if we weren't human," one participant complained. Another participant said that she was denied the necessary food to take her medication, and when she repeatedly asked for it, she was given half a banana. Some participants sustained injuries during the competitions, and some even ended up in the hospital.
Donaldson's representative promised that the blogger's team would learn from what happened. He also attributed the difficulties on set to extreme weather, a massive technical failure, and other unexpected problems. Explaining the presence of two thousand participants in the show, he mentioned that the creators had initially planned to involve that many people in the first stage of the show and then reduce it to one thousand.
