MrBeast’s ‘Beast Games’ crew shares new allegations of poor conditions on MrBeast game show

MrBeast’s upcoming reality competition show, “Beast Games,” is facing more allegations of poor conditions on set.
When production for “Beast Games” started in July in Las Vegas, participants raised issues about life on set, claiming limited access to food, water and medical assistance, as the Deseret News previously reported.
A representative for MrBeast called those early allegations “inaccurate,” per Vital Vegas.
Now cast and crew members have come forward with new allegations about the filming that took place in Toronto, according to Rolling Stone.
“Internal documents, NDAs, call sheets, and set photos obtained by Rolling Stone from crew members who worked on the Toronto leg of (’Beast Games’) describe a potentially unsafe working environment that was ‘disorganized,’ ‘wild,’ and staffed with a crew with little experience on a project of this scale,” Rolling Stone reported.
MrBeast, the 26-year-old YouTube sensation whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, boasts more than 316 million subscribers. His empire spans three YouTube channels, a snack brand, fast-food joint, a pre-packaged lunch brand and soon, a TV show.
Donaldson has a reputation for pushing the envelope. He often rewards guest stars on his channel for enduring ridiculous challenges. Titles for some of his recent YouTube videos include: “Survive 100 Days in Nuclear Bunker, Win $500,000″ and “$10,000 Everyday You Survive In The Wilderness.”
Donaldson announced plans in March to partner with Amazon Studio to create the “the largest game show in history.” He struck a deal with Amazon because the streaming platform offered his team “the most creative control,” whereas other platforms suggested restraints on creativity, Donaldson revealed on “The Colin and Samir Show.”
Before production officially started, Donaldson said the series would be “insane” and aimed for each episode to be “bigger than the biggest YouTube video I’ve ever made,” as previously reported by the Deseret News.
“Beast Games” crew members allege that Donaldson and his partners bit off more than they could chew with the show.
“It’s a Fyre Fest kind of feeling,” one crew member who worked in Toronto and left the production early said to Rolling Stone. “There’s a reason why this level of production hasn’t been attempted before, and it certainly should never have been attempted without people that know what they are doing.”
Others have offered similar accounts.
“We were treated horribly,” a contestant told The New York Times in August. “They took on this challenge of 2,000 competitors. They should have known they needed an enormous crew to handle this correctly.”
Scott Leopold, an actor from Austin, said he was not aware of who MrBeast was, but joined the series for “exposure.” He said the reality show set had “deplorable conditions,” per Rolling Stone.
“They were in over their heads and they didn’t know what to do,” Leopold told Rolling Stone. “Like people were just doing things that they couldn’t control.”
According to a MrBeast spokesperson, “The MrBeast Las Vegas promotional video shoot, which included over 2,000 participants, was unfortunately complicated by the CrowdStrike incident, extreme weather, and other unexpected logistical and communications issues, which we reviewed, and we are grateful that virtually all of those invited to Toronto enthusiastically accepted our invitation,” per Rolling Stone.
“We communicated directly with 97 percent of the 2,000 people who attended to ask for feedback, and took the necessary steps to ensure that we learned from this experience, and we were excited to welcome the hundreds of men and women who participated in the world’s largest game show in history.”
Production of “Beast Games” began in Las Vegas. Once the game show narrowed down 2,000 potential contestants to 1,000 official contestants, production moved to Toronto.
Some participants said their experience improved after the move.
A contestant who was in both Vegas and Toronto said filming in Toronto “was a much better experience. … I think they learned from the mishaps and mistakes they made the first time around,” per Rolling Stone.
Crew members may not have seen the same improvements in Toronto as contestants.
One crew member, who left production in Toronto early, claims they received a single “scoop of rice” to eat during a 16-hour shift.
“There was either not enough food, they were running out, or it wasn’t ready on time,” a production assistant told Rolling Stone.
Another PA claimed, “Catering ran out of food a bunch of times.”
Another source close to production told the opposite story. “There were craft services available constantly … way more than even necessary to ensure that everyone was fed properly,” the source told Rolling Stone.
Other show participants raised safety concerns.
In mid-August, Toronto was hit with record-breaking rainfall, per CTV News Toronto. The storm flooded the “Beast Games” set, which halted filming for 36 hours.
Crew workers were “told to keep working with piles of electrical equipment literally submerged under water,” a PA told Rolling Stone.
In March, Donaldson announced he had joined forced with Amazon Studio to make “the largest games show in history.” The reality competition series will feature 1,000 contestants and a $5 million reward, he said, per X.
Details about the show have been vague, but Donaldson claims it will be similar to his typical YouTube video, but more extreme.
“This show, we have it written now, is mind-blowing. … It’s like our normal videos just 20 times better,” Donaldson said during an appearance on “The Colin and Samir Show.” “It’s going to be the largest game show in history, with the most contestants any game show has ever had, with the largest cash prize in history.”
“When MrBeast first told us about his concept for the show, we were blown away by his ambition to make Beast Games the biggest reality competition series ever,” Vernon Sanders, head of television at Amazon MGM Studios, said in a statement.
A release date for the reality competition series has not been revealed yet.