As controversies accumulate around YouTube star MrBeast, a new report has contestants of his upcoming Prime Video reality competition Beast Games blowing the whistle on their treatment on set.
In a press release this March, Amazon MGM Studios said Beast Games, hosted and executive-produced by Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson, is “set to become the biggest reality competition series ever, with 1,000 contestants competing for a $5 million dollar cash prize, which will be the biggest single prize in the history of television and streaming.”
But contestants, who spoke anonymously due to nondisclosure agreements, told The New York Times that they were misled and mistreated while competing for a shot at that $5 million prize.
For starters, several contestants said the intake process involved answering questions about whether they would be willing to be buried alive or travel to outer space. They also had to sign a contract acknowledging that activities on the show may cause “death, illness, or serious bodily injury, including, but not limited to exhaustion, dehydration, overexertion, burns, and heat stroke.” (That language, reviewed by the Times, is similar to that of other reality TV contracts, the newspaper notes.)
Contestants also said they didn’t receive adequate food — and weren’t warned how little food they’d get or how infrequently they’d eat, with some reporting they received food they were allergic to — or medical care — with some saying they received necessary medications hours or even days late.
One contestant recalled seeing others leaving the arena on stretchers, while another said contestants were vomiting and apparently passing out during the competition. The Times reports there were several hospitalizations during the shoot.
In other allegations about Beast Games filming, contestants said that they were misled about their chances of winning (since 2,000 people were invited to the competition), yelled and cursed at by staff members, left waiting hours or even days for clean underwear, and deprived of the $1,000 consolation prizes they were given on camera.
In a challenge involving five teams of 400 people pulling 10,000-pound weights, one contestant remembered hyperventilating and another said she feared being trampled.
“We signed up for the show, but we didn’t sign up for not being fed or watered or treated like human beings,” one contestant told the Times.
Another said, “We were treated horribly. They took on this challenge of 2,000 competitors. They should have known they needed an enormous crew to handle this correctly.”
In a text message to the Times, a spokesperson for Donaldson said the Beast Games shoot “was unfortunately complicated by the CrowdStrike incident, extreme weather, and other unexpected logistical and communications issues” and that Donaldson had started a formal review and had “taken steps to ensure that we learn from this experience.”
The Times report follows recent controversies, previously covered by the newspaper, around Donaldson’s past use of what he called “inappropriate language” and the allegations that he manipulated his contests and videos.
Beast Games, TBD, Prime Video
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