NEW YORK (AP) — YouTube's biggest star MrBeast is facing complaints about the safety of contestants from the preliminary round of his ambitious “Beast Games" game show, which boasts 1,000 competitors hoping for a $5 million grand prize.
Some contestants complained online and to other YouTube influencers that they lacked regular access to food, water and medication during early production at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, and that some competitors were injured during the production.
A spokesperson for MrBeast said his team is reviewing the process and soliciting attendees’ feedback ahead of the next phase of production in Toronto.
The stakes for “Beast Games” aren't just high for the contestants, but for MrBeast himself, whose real name Jimmy Donaldson, as well as the recipients of his brand of “stunt philanthropy" that often entails direct gifts of cash or even houses. The complaints about the “Beast Games” production coincide with Donaldson’s acknowledgement this week that he used racial and homophobic slurs years ago in recordings he made as a teenager.
The show, which has already been picked up by Amazon Prime Video to air in 240 countries, is part of Donaldson's cultural expansion beyond YouTube — where his channel has 307 million subscribers, including countless young consumers who already purchase his Feastables line of candy or the burgers that bear his name.
“My goal is to make the greatest show possible and prove YouTubers and creators can succeed on other platforms,” Donaldson said in a March press release from Amazon.
Donaldson’s companies cast 2,000 people to take part in an initial tryout of sorts at Allegiant Stadium in July, with 1,000 of them presumably advancing to the actual show. Amazon Prime Video was not involved and did not respond to a request for comment.
A MrBeast spokesperson said Friday that the promotional video shoot was “unfortunately complicated” by extreme weather, the widespread CrowdStrike outage that wreaked global technological havoc and “other unexpected logistical and communications issues.”
We “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 spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
MrBeast offered eliminated contestants $1,000 upon leaving the competition and the spokesperson said most of those who remain in contention are ready to keep going.
Some contestants expected challenges similar to those from the dystopian Netflix show “Squid Game,” a fictional series — and eventual reality game show — where deeply indebted people compete for millions in high-stakes children’s games.
The Associated Press reached out to several contestants about “Beast Games,” but most either did not respond or declined to speak on the record because they had signed nondisclosure agreements.
Scott Leopold, a 53-year-old father from Austin, Texas, told the AP he thought he was competing in the actual “Beast Games,” not a precursor to the show. He said he felt deceived about his chances of winning and that the competition in Las Vegas would not stream on Amazon Prime Video.
He said that Donaldson should not be “villainized” but added that “an apology would go a long way.”
“All I can conclude is that he was in over his head,” Leopold said. “There were too many people, and I don’t think he knew how to handle the situation.”
Nancy Libby, a Navy veteran from California who said she was one of the last people eliminated, told AP that she applied after seeing a casting call on Facebook. Her daughters watch MrBeast videos, she said, and she’d already planned to take off work anyway.
On-set conditions met her expectations. Libby said she was instructed by recruiters beforehand to watch previous MrBeast challenges to gain some understanding of the experience. Because of that, she said, she was unsurprised by meals of oatmeal and nights spent sleeping on the floor.
Libby said that “crowd control” was an issue at times and that more staffing could help ensure competitors do not injure their counterparts. But Libby said the MrBeast team appeared to take safety seriously and that she only witnessed rude behavior from outside contractors.
“Sometimes when you run things that are first of their kind, things come up that you can’t foresee,” Libby said. “I think that the template was there for a really good competition.”
MrBeast has also previously had some contentious relationships with its contractors. One of Donaldson’s companies sued and then was countersued by a vendor they worked with on the “MrBeast Burger" that got widely panned.
Fans have also previously complained about not receiving merchandise they ordered from MrBeast or receiving the wrong items or wrong sizes. A vendor working with MrBeast to ship some of those orders acknowledged in an online post last year that they’d let the fan down.
Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.
FILE - Jimmy Donaldson, the popular YouTube video maker who goes by MrBeast, wears a Lionel Messi jersey as he stands in a sideline box at the start of an MLS soccer match between Inter Miami and CF Montreal, March 10, 2024, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. MrBeast is facing complaints about the safety of contestants from the preliminary rounds of his ambitious “Beast Games" game show, which boasts 1,000 competitors hoping for a $5 million grand prize. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
LONDON (AP) — The sequel to Prince Harry vs. the British tabloids begins Tuesday in a high-stakes trial pitting him against Rupert Murdoch’s newspapers that could cost him millions even if he wins.
Harry, 40, the younger son of King Charles III, and one other claimant remain alone among hundreds who have settled lawsuits against News Group Newspapers, the publisher of The Sun and the now-defunct News of the World, over a llegations their phones were hacked and investigators unlawfully snooped on their lives.
It will be the first case of its kind to go to trial against the publisher since a widespread phone hacking scandal forced Murdoch to close News of the World in 2011. News Group has settled more than 1,300 other claims.
For the Duke of Sussex, it will be the second trial in London's High Court in his long-running feud with the press that he blames for the death of his mother, Princess Diana, who was killed in a car crash while being chased by paparazzi. He also blames them for persistent attacks on his wife, actor Meghan Markle, that led them to leave the royal life and flee to the U.S. in 2020.
Harry has said his mission to hold the media accountable has led to a rift with his family but it's one he feels compelled to carry out to expose wrongdoing.
He won a similar case against the publisher of the Daily Mirror in 2023 and he has another case pending against the Daily Mail's publisher.
Here's a look at the case:
Harry claims News Group journalists and private investigators they hired violated his privacy by using unlawful tactics to dig up dirt on him and his family between 1996 and 2011.
His fellow claimant, Tom Watson, a former deputy leader of the Labour Party, said his voicemails were intercepted during a period when he was investigating the hacking scandal.
Their lawyer said the newspapers had a widespread practice of using deception to obtain medical, phone and flight records, bugged homes and placed listening devices in cars.
They allege that executives concealed the skullduggery through means that included destroying documents.
“This allegation is wrong, unsustainable, and is strongly denied,” News Group said in a statement.
Former executives accused of playing a role include Will Lewis, now CEO of the Washington Post, and Rebekah Brooks, CEO of News UK, a division of News Corp. They have denied wrongdoing.
Brooks was acquitted of phone hacking conspiracy charges in a criminal trial in 2014, though her former colleague, Andy Coulson, who was later spokesman for Prime Minister David Cameron, was jailed.
News Group strongly denies the allegations and it said Harry failed to bring his lawsuit within the required six-year limit.
News Group apologized to News of the World phone hacking victims in 2011. The Sun has never accepted liability.
Actor Hugh Grant had been one of Harry's remaining co-claimants, but said he was forced to accept “an enormous sum of money” to settle because he could have faced a legal bill of 10 million pounds ($12.3 million) even if he won at trial.
Under English civil law, a claimant who wins a court judgment that is lower than what they were offered to settle, has to pay the legal bills for both sides. The law is intended to discourage lengthy trials.
Despite the grave financial risk, Harry told The New York Times Dealbook Summit in December that he was not going to fold.
“They’ve settled because they’ve had to settle," he said of other claimants. "One of the main reasons for seeing this through is accountability, because I’m the last person that can actually achieve that.”
The trial, which is expected to last 10 weeks, will put Harry back in the witness box for several days in February.
In 2023, Harry became the first senior member of the royal family to testify in court since the late 19th century, when Queen Victoria’s eldest son, Prince Albert Edward, testified twice.
That has put Harry at odds with a family famous for a “never complain, never explain" attitude.
Harry revealed in court papers that his father opposed his litigation. He also said his older brother William, Prince of Wales and heir to the throne, had received a “huge sum” to settle a complaint against News Group.
Harry said his tabloid war was central to his fallout with his family.
“The mission continues, but it has, yes, it’s caused, as you say, part of a rift,” Harry said in the documentary “Tabloids On Trial.”
Harry said he wished his family had joined him in making a stand against media offenses.
“But, you know, I’m doing this for my reasons,” he said.
News Group has failed to kill the case over the past two years, but Harry has experienced some setbacks in a series of sometimes bruising hearings.
The publisher succeeded in getting Harry's phone hacking claims thrown out because the judge said he should have been aware of the widely publicized scandal and could have brought his lawsuit sooner.
The judge also rejected Harry's effort to broaden the case to include claims of eavesdropping on his mother, unearthing private information on his wife and implicating Murdoch.
Harry alleged Murdoch, who was chief executive of the company that controlled NGN, was part of the effort to conceal evidence of hacking or had “turned a blind eye” to it. The judge said those allegations would add nothing material to claims that include other “trusted lieutenants,” such as Brooks and Murdoch’s younger son, James Murdoch.
The judge also tossed out Harry's bid to include assertions that Buckingham Palace had a secret deal with News Group executives that called for a settlement and an apology to be worked out after other phone hacking litigation was resolved.
Judge Timothy Fancourt said Harry failed to produce witnesses or documents that could show his grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, had approved of the deal to protect the royal family from embarrassing litigation.
The publisher denied there was any secret agreement.
FILE - Britain's Prince Harry arrives in the gardens of Buckingham Palace in London, Jan. 16, 2020. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)