The start of August hasn’t been great for Jimmy Donaldson a.k.a., MrBeast, as several participants from his upcoming Amazon MGM studios game show Beast Games, have accused the YouTube star of unsafe, borderline negligent filming conditions.
In a striking report from The New York Times, several contestants spoke with the outlet about the severe mismanagement of the show’s production. These allegations include statements about the lack of food provided, inadequate medical care, and physical injuries contestants suffered competing in tasks for the show.
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The first round of filming of the reality show took place at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas where close to 2,000 participants gathered to compete for a grand prize of $5 million. Contestants ate, slept, and generally lived in the stadium during filming and had to give up their food, clothes, and — oddly — medication to staff.
Meals were described as tiny, with staff serving cold oatmeal, raw veggies, and a hard-boiled egg to participants. The only other type of food contestants were given was MrBeast-branded Feastable chocolate bars. Medicine that was handed over to staff was hard to get back promptly, with one participant claiming to have gone days without needed insulin. When another contestant told staff they needed to eat with their medication, they claimed that staff members were dismissive and reluctantly gave them “half a banana.”
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Several of the complaints given to the New York Times included sleep deprivation due to having to film at night, and having to sleep on the turf of the sun-soaked Las Vegas stadium during the day. Women who competed during the event also alleged sexism that caused some not to get underwear while menstruating because menstruation was said to be “not a medical emergency.”
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It was made clear during the report that anonymous contestants felt that the production team was not adequately prepared for the number of participants included in the event. In fact, from the start, several felt misled as many were told the initial number of contestants would be near 1,000. But according to an introductory video by Donaldson, the YouTube star claimed to have always intended to have 2,000 and then cut it down to half for the actual show.
“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,” said a MrBeast representative to the New York Times. “But we are grateful that virtually all of those invited to Toronto for our next production have enthusiastically accepted our invitation.”
Mashable reached out to representatives for MrBeast and will update if we hear back.
