Jimmy Donaldson, known as MrBeast, is the top YouTuber with 308 million subscribers, increasing to nearly 460 million when including his four other channels. According to Forbes, his popularity has led to an estimated $82 million in earnings from June 2022 to June 2023.
His four other channels are included. According to Forbes, his popularity with Donaldson has been criticized, with some arguing that offering cash in exchange for physical or mental challenges is unethical. Others have accused him of using his good deeds as “content” for profit. In July, Donaldson and his “associates,” including “Ava Kris Tyson,” have been the subject of multiple controversies, including allegations of inappropriate conversations with minors, sexual assault by a former employee, unsafe working conditions for participants in his Amazon competition show Beast Games, and a resurfaced incident of old videos from Donaldson making racially insensitive jokes online. Donaldson has since apologized for these incidents.
Donaldson representatives have shared an internal memo revealing they hired a law firm to investigate allegations against Tyson. The memo requested a comprehensive assessment of the internal culture of “Team Beast” and an investigation into inappropriate behavior. Plans include hiring a chief human resources officer, chief financial officer, and general counsel and implementing sensitivity training.
Donaldson secured a deal with Amazon MGM to produce a competition show, with 1,000 contestants vying for a $5 million prize. The production began filming in Las Vegas in mid-July but eliminated contestants who said their experiences did not align with expectations. In a video obtained by TIME, Donaldson revealed that there were 2,000 contestants, ranging from “Gen Z to 82,” and that the production was not as initially reported. Two eliminated contestants from a YouTube channel elimination round shared their negative experiences on set. Janae Reidy, on set before her team was eliminated, reported disorganization and difficulty getting adequate sleep, food, water, and medication. She also noticed that water was not readily available, and contestants were recorded drinking water for sponsored content and snacking on chocolate bars. The contestants slept in sleeping bags on the sodium turf.
The 2,000 contestants face difficulties in obtaining medication due to disorganized staff and long wait times. They were divided into five teams and competed to lift a 10,000-pound boulder fastest. The rush to get colored jerseys created a “mosh pit” situation.“The people behind us were pushing, and the people in front of us were trying to turn around and go, so they were squishing us,” the contestant says. “One girl started to have a panic attack. We were trying to keep each other from falling, and people were screaming. It was really crazy.”
Remain informed alliances, creating an unfair advantage against women and older contestants. Some teammates’ spelling got caught in a rope, tangled around someone’s neck. “Production was yelling at the people behind the ones that fell to keep pulling, and they didn’t; they stopped,” Reidy says. “They helped get the other people out of the rope because they didn’t want to hurt them.”
Over a dozen people were injured during the first part of The Beast Game show, with one contestant reporting bruises and bleeding. The anonymous contestant claims they were offered a $1,000 consolation prize, but they felt it was fake. The second part of the shooting is set for Toronto in early August. Rumors suggest potential dangerous challenges, with YouTuber Rosanna Pansino cleaning the unfair. Donaldson’s representative claims the production faced issues due to the crown strike incident, extreme weather, and other logistical and communication problems.
