A category-action lawsuit towards YouTube star MrBeast and Amazon has been filed on behalf of 5 unnamed contestants within the “Beast Games” actuality competitors present alleging they had been subjected to “chronic mistreatment,” sexual harassment and extra.
The grievance was filed Monday (Sept. 16) in Los Angeles Superior Court. The lawsuit alleges a number of causes of motion associated to the persistent mistreatment of and neglect suffered by members in “Beast Games,” a actuality competitors ordered by Prime Video through which greater than 1,000 members compete for a single $5 million money prize. The go well with claims “Beast Games” has a $100 million funds. A redacted copy of the grievance is obtainable at this hyperlink.
The lawsuit seeks class-action standing on behalf of all affected “Beast Games” contestants. The go well with calls for that Amazon and MrBeast’s firm pay alleged unpaid wages and bills and that the defendants be ordered to pay unspecified punitive financial damages.
Representatives for MrBeast (whose actual identify is Jimmy Donaldson) and Amazon didn't instantly reply to requests for remark.
According to the lawsuit, Amazon, MrBeast’s manufacturing firm and unbiased manufacturing agency Off One’s Base LLC — amongst different issues — didn't pay minimal wages and additional time; failed to stop sexual harassment; created circumstances that subjected contestants to “infliction of emotional distress”; didn't present members uninterrupted meal breaks or relaxation breaks; and uncovered contestants to “dangerous circumstances and conditions as a condition of their employment.”
“While participants knew upon signing the contract at the production’s inception that they were facing a potentially long and challenging competition, they allege getting a lot more than they bargained for,” attorneys for the nameless “Beast Games” contestants mentioned in a press release concerning the lawsuit. “Several contestants ending up hospitalized, while others reported suffering physical and mental complications while being subjected to chronic mistreatment, degradation and, for the female contestants, hostile working conditions.”
According to the lawsuit, “Beast Games” members had been disadvantaged of medical care, meals, sleep and the requirements of primary hygiene. Portions of the lawsuit are redacted, together with a number of the particulars involving the sexual harassment allegations. “The Plaintiffs have filed this action using pseudonyms and applying conservative redactions that limit public viewing in a good faith effort to comply with Defendants’ overbroad confidentiality provisions (which Plaintiffs allege are unenforceable), as well as to preserve the confidentiality and privacy interests of the Plaintiffs who wish to avoid opprobrium,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit seeks to “establish a pattern of sexual harassment,” based on the attorneys representing the 5 plaintiffs. For instance, the grievance cites directions from an alleged “How to Succeed in MrBeast Production” worker handbook that features this: “If talent wants to draw a dick on the white board in the video or do something stupid, let them… Really do everything you can to empower the boys when filming and help them make content. Help them be idiots.”
One of the feminine plaintiffs within the grievance, recognized solely as “Contestant 5,” mentioned in a press release: “I wanted to join because I was a fan of MrBeast and his videos made me smile during the COVID-19 pandemic. I expected to be challenged, but I didn’t think I would be treated like nothing — less than nothing. And as one of the women, I can say it absolutely felt like a hostile environment for us. We honestly could not have been respected less — as people, much less employees — if they tried.”
“As extreme as the allegations against defendants are here, the law could not be more clear,” mentioned Robert Pafundi of Pafundi Law Firm, lead counsel for the plaintiffs. “Participants entered into contracts and they were promised compensation for their services. Their expectation of compensation, along with them being consistently under the control and supervision of the production staff, makes them employees under California law. As such, they were entitled to, and denied, certain protections. And when you add to that the extreme neglect, degradation, harassment and inhumane conditions — it’s quite simply a massive dereliction of duty, for which the defendants must and will now be held accountable.”
A launch date for “Beast Games” on Prime Video has not but been introduced. Amazon has touted it as “the world’s largest live gameshow” with the “biggest single prize in the history of television and streaming.”
