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MrBeast's giant reality competition faces safety complaints from initial contestants

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MrBeast's giant reality competition faces safety complaints from initial contestants
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MrBeast's giant reality competition faces safety complaints from initial contestants

2024-08-03 10:57 Last Updated At:11:00

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)

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)

Next Article

Dominican Republic to crack down harder on migrants as Haitians flee violence

2025-04-08 00:29 Last Updated At:00:31

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Dominican President Luis Abinader has announced more than a dozen measures to crack down on migrants who have entered the Dominican Republic illegally as people in neighboring Haiti flee a surge in gang violence.

The measures that Abinader qualified as “painful but necessary” in a speech Sunday include charging patients for hospital services and sanctioning those who rent homes or commercial businesses to migrants who lack proper documentation.

“The rights of Dominicans will not be displaced. Our identity will not be diluted. Our generosity will not be exploited. Here, solidarity has limits,” Abinader said.

He said that starting on April 21, hospital staff will be required to ask patients for their identification, work permit and proof of residence.

If a patient is unable to present any of those documents, they will receive medical attention and then be deported immediately, Abinader said, adding that a migration agent will be stationed at every hospital to ensure compliance.

The government also will deploy an additional 1,500 soldiers to the border that the Dominican Republic shares with Haiti on the island of Hispaniola, boosting the total number of personnel stationed there to 11,000, Abinader said.

He also announced he would speed up construction of a border wall to add another eight miles (13 kilometers) to the 34 miles (54 kilometers) already built.

“I recognize that many are concerned about the threat Haiti poses. Concerned about the irregular migration it causes. Concerned about the burden this places on our hospitals, our schools, the risks to our security, and the strain on our economy,” Abinader said.

So far, his administration has deported more than 180,000 suspected undocumented migrants since it announced in October that it would deport 10,000 of them a week. Human rights activists and dozens of those who have been deported have accused the government of abuse, including breaking into homes without a warrant to arrest people.

Abinader also announced that legislators would debate a new bill calling for stricter penalties against those who help migrants cross into the Dominican Republic illegally.

“The violence that is destroying Haiti will not cross over to the Dominican Republic,” Abinader said.

The president added he would try to have businesses hire only Dominican workers in certain sectors.

“For far too long, agriculture and construction have depended on illegal workers,” he said.

Abinader spoke a week after an ultranationalist movement organized a protest in a Dominican community where many Haitians live to demand that the government impose measures against illegal migration as it threatened to hold a national protest if its demands were not met.

Abinader’s announcement also comes as gangs in Haiti that control at least 85% of the capital, Port-au-Prince, continue to attack once-peaceful communities in a bid to control more territory.

He called on the international community to “do their duty,” noting that Haiti needs help and that the Dominican Republic “cannot and should not burden a crisis that is not theirs.”

Associated Press reporter Dánica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico contributed.

Supporters of the Antigua Orden Dominicana nationalist group take part in march against immigration at a Haitian settlement called "El Hoyo de Friusa" in Bavaro, Dominican Republic, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ricardo Hernandez)

Supporters of the Antigua Orden Dominicana nationalist group take part in march against immigration at a Haitian settlement called "El Hoyo de Friusa" in Bavaro, Dominican Republic, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ricardo Hernandez)

Supporters of the Antigua Orden Dominicana nationalist group take part in a march against immigration at a Haitian settlement called "El Hoyo de Friusa" in Bavaro, Dominican Republic, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ricardo Hernandez)

Supporters of the Antigua Orden Dominicana nationalist group take part in a march against immigration at a Haitian settlement called "El Hoyo de Friusa" in Bavaro, Dominican Republic, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ricardo Hernandez)

Angelo Vasquez, center, the leader of the Antigua Orden Dominicana nationalist group speaks to supporters during a march against immigration at a Haitian settlement called "El Hoyo de Friusa" in Bavaro, Dominican Republic, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ricardo Hernandez)

Angelo Vasquez, center, the leader of the Antigua Orden Dominicana nationalist group speaks to supporters during a march against immigration at a Haitian settlement called "El Hoyo de Friusa" in Bavaro, Dominican Republic, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ricardo Hernandez)

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