What happened with MrBeast’s Beast Games?

The type of viral content that once propelled YouTube star MrBeast to online fame has now sparked controversy as the YouTuber aims to break into mainstream media with his reality competition show, Beast Games. Even before its release, the show has been in the headlines in recent months after at least five contestants filed a class action lawsuit in September alleging they were “shamelessly exploited” while competing.

In March, Jimmy Donaldson (aka MrBeast) and Amazon MGM Studios announced the reality competition would be in the mold of his popular YouTube videos, where 1,000 contestants compete for a $5 million prize in a series of outlandish challenges. At the time, contestants signed contracts acknowledging the risk of serious injury and death. Yet, what has emerged since the filming of the show demonstrates what can go wrong when YouTuber-led productions fall short of the standard of care upheld by traditional media.

Back in August, the New York Times spoke with more than a dozen of the show’s participants, who reported “several hospitalizations” on the set, 20-hour spells between meals on set, and injuries that required a stretcher.

“I was really excited to be part of something that was going to be really big,” one of the plaintiffs, identified in the suit as Contestant 4, told the Times. “In the end, I just left feeling really insignificant and mistreated and traumatized. I still haven’t gotten paid. I just hope that no one else ever has to go through this.” Since her time on the show, Contestant 4 has sought mental health treatment for anxiety, while another contestant in the suit claims she felt “embarrassed and degraded” by the experience.

“Defendant production companies and Amazon shamelessly exploited the labor of approximately [redacted] people who served as contestants,” said lawyers representing the plaintiffs.

“Several contestants ended up hospitalized,” the lawsuit stated. “[O]thers reported suffering physical and mental complications while being subjected to chronic mistreatment, degradation and, for the female contestants, hostile working conditions.”

Fueled by a surging creator economy that is expected to reach nearly $500 billion by 2027, digital stars such as MrBeast are increasingly making the jump from online platforms to mainstream media. But as YouTubers accustomed to full creative control (MrBeast, for instance, retained complete authority over his recent $100 million deal with Amazon Studios) venture into traditional entertainment, many fall short of upholding the basic standards of treatment for cast and crew that are the norm in established studios.

This issue is raising concerns about the future of digital entertainment, with productions that rely on a constant push for bigger, more extreme content, often at the expense of those involved.