YouTuber MrBeast, Amazon sued over ‘hostile work environment’ on ‘Beast Games’
Contestants on MrBeast’s upcoming competition series have sued the popular YouTube star’s production company and Amazon for sexual harassment, failure to pay minimum wages and negligent infliction of emotional distress, among other allegations.
The plaintiffs filed a class-action lawsuit on Monday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, accusing Amazon Alternative, MrB2024 and another production company, Off One’s Base, of subjecting them to “unreasonable, unsafe, and unlawful employment conditions.” The complaint identifies several of the contestants as Los Angeles County or California residents.
The plaintiffs allegedly were hired to appear on “Beast Games,” billed by Amazon as “the biggest reality competition series,” boasting 1,000 contestants and a $5-million prize. The show was set to premiere on the Seattle-based tech company’s streaming service, Prime Video.
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“Defendant production companies and Amazon shamelessly exploited the labor of ... people who served as contestants” on the program, the 54-page complaint reads.
“Unfortunately, the supposedly magnanimous MrBeast did not want to use ... alleged unconstrained resources to provide fair wages, or even bare-minimum-legal working conditions, to the contestants whose labor comprised the core commercial value of Beast Games.”
A substantial amount of detail in the lawsuit is redacted in what the complaint describes as “a good faith effort to comply with” the defendants’ “overbroad confidentiality provisions ... as well as to preserve the confidentiality and privacy interests of the plaintiffs who wish to avoid opprobrium.”
Representatives for Amazon and MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, did not immediately respond Wednesday to requests for comment.
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The lawsuit alleges that the companies failed to compensate the contestants with minimum wages or overtime pay while denying them mandatory meal and rest breaks, among other provisions. The employers also stand accused of “fudging” the production’s labor costs in documents submitted to the Nevada Film Commission to qualify for the state’s tax credit program.
While filming the series, the contestants were allegedly “held under strict control and surveillance for days on end” and denied “all privacy and access to the outside world.” The complaint further alleges that the contestants “were fed sporadically and sparsely” and “not given adequate access to hygienic products or medical care.”
According to the lawsuit, female contestants “particularly and collectively suffered” under a “hostile work environment” pervaded by “misogyny and sexism.” The companies allegedly did nothing to protect female contestants from sexual harassment.
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Additionally, the complaint alleges that contestants were forced to go without sleep and “participate in games that unreasonably risked physical and mental injury.”
The plaintiffs are demanding that the court require the companies to implement workplace reforms and employee training programs “to prevent future harassment,” and to pay punitive damages and all wages owed to the contestants.
This is not the first time MrBeast has faced allegations of misconduct.
In August, the online content creator — whose YouTube channel has more than 315 million subscribers — admitted to using “inappropriate language” in past videos after clips surfaced of him engaging with racist comments and repeatedly uttering a homophobic slur.
Latasha Gillespie, global head of diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility at Amazon MGM Studios and Prime Video, will leave the company in August after seven years.
A spokesperson for MrBeast, 26, said in a statement at the time that the YouTuber had “repeatedly apologized and has learned that increasing influence comes with increased responsibility to be more aware and more sensitive to the power of language.”
“After making some bad jokes and other mistakes when he was younger, as an adult he has focused on engaging with the MrBeast community to work together on making a positive impact around the world,” the rep added.
Times staff writers Meg James and Alexandra Del Rosario contributed to this report.
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