Participants sue MrBeast and Amazon over ‘Beast Games’

For months, a firestorm of accusations has surrounded multimillionaire YouTube star Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, and the people and companies linked to him.

Now there is a collective complaint regarding alleged misconduct in the making of Beast GamesAn upcoming game show on Prime Video that Amazon announced earlier this year would be “the biggest reality competition series ever” has been sued on behalf of at least five anonymous plaintiffs who participated in the program.

The complaint, filed Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court, names MrBeast-linked company MRB2024 LLC, Amazon Studios’ unscripted division Amazon Alternative LLC, and independent production company Off One’s Base LLC as defendants and requests a jury trial to determine unspecified damages — “likely totaling millions of dollars,” according to a press release from the plaintiffs’ attorneys — including for alleged unpaid wages and subjecting participants, particularly female ones, to hostile working conditions.

The lawsuit is unlikely to go to trial, however, as class actions are typically settled before trial, Camron Dowlatshahi, a Los Angeles attorney who specializes in entertainment and workers’ compensation cases, told TIME. “I would expect the same thing here,” he said, adding that the claims outlined in the complaint seem to him “a tough argument to win.”

The complaint, an edited version of which was first published by Variety—alleges that the defendants are responsible for the abuse and neglect of more than 1,000 Beast Games contestants during filming this summer, and that the contestants were treated as employees and are entitled to compensation for their services and for the many alleged labor law violations they encountered. It also alleges that the number of contestants — and thus the expected chance of winning the much-ballyhooed $5 million prize — was misrepresented to contestants as 1,000, when it later turned out to be more. (TIME previously reported that Donaldson revealed to contestants that there were actually 2,000 entrants.)

“Although contestants knew at the outset of production that they were in for a potentially long and challenging competition when they signed the contract, they allege they got far more than they bargained for,” the attorneys’ statement said. “Several contestants were hospitalized, while others reported suffering physical and mental complications while being subjected to chronic abuse, humiliation, and, for the female contestants, hostile working conditions.”

Beast Games has not yet been given a release date. Dowlatshahi, the entertainment attorney, tells TIME that he doesn’t foresee it being canceled as a result of the lawsuit, though he says the negative publicity “could cause future seasons to be canceled or not renewed,” and that if the defendants do end up going to trial and are found liable, “the show is over.”

Representatives for MrBeast and Amazon did not immediately respond to TIME’s requests for comment.

Of the long list of causes of action in the complaint, the majority of the charges against the defendants concern the plaintiffs’ allegation that contestants on the show were employees under California law but were “unlawfully and intentionally misclassified.” As a result, the complaint alleges that the companies failed to pay minimum wage and overtime, failed to provide meal and rest breaks, and violated multiple other labor laws. It also alleges that the defendants exercised “complete control” over the contestants’ activities, including their access to personal belongings, their movements, clothing, and sleeping arrangements.

“Participants entered into contracts and were promised compensation for their services. Their expectation of compensation, coupled with the fact that they were consistently under the control and supervision of production personnel, makes them employees under California law,” Robert N. Pafundi, one of several lead attorneys for the plaintiffs, said in a statement.

The complaint alleges that the show had a budget of $100 million. It also cites Donaldson saying in an interview with YouTubers Colin and Samir in March that money was “no limitation” and that Amazon had given him “all creative control” and the ability to “do anything (he) wanted.”

The complaint alleges that Donaldson, however, “failed to use its allegedly unlimited resources to provide fair wages, or even minimum legal employment conditions.” Instead, it alleges, the defendants used “superior bargaining power” to get participants to sign “unreasonable contracts” with “illegal terms and illusory obligations” and that the defendants obtained unearned tax benefits based on misrepresented employment conditions of the production.

The most serious allegations in the complaint are that the defendants “created, permitted and promoted a culture, pattern and practice of sexual harassment.”

According to the complaint, female candidates suffered ‘collectively’ from the work environment Beast Games “systematically fostered a culture of misogyny and sexism” while staff “did nothing.”

However, damages for sexual harassment will be “very difficult to prove on a class-wide basis,” entertainment attorney Dowlatshahi tells TIME, because it is typically “an individual investigation, which is not amenable to class determination.”

Parts of the complaint were redacted for reasons of confidentiality and privacy, specifically those relating to allegations of sexual harassment. But in the plaintiffs’ attorneys’ press release about the case, an anonymous female plaintiff said: “I expected to be challenged, but I didn’t expect to be treated as nothing, less than nothing. And as one of the women, I can say that it absolutely felt like a hostile environment for us. We honestly couldn’t have been less respected, as people, let alone as employees, if they had tried.”

The complaint points to an alleged manual leaked last month by YouTuber Rosanna Pansino titled “How to Succeed in MrBeast Production,” which the complaint says “offers insight into the working conditions of boys-to-be-boys, seemingly promoted by Mr. Donaldson.” The manual, which has not been verified, states in one section: “If talent wants to draw a dick on the whiteboard in the video or do something stupid, let them. (assuming they understand all the risks and don’t miss the context of why it’s not safe) People love it when we’re in our natural element of stupidity. Absolutely do everything you can to empower the boys during filming and help them create content. Help them be idiots.”

Lizelle S. Brandt, another lead attorney for the plaintiffs, said production staff “not only participated in, but created, conditions that fostered a hostile work environment and culminated in the sexual harassment of female participants. While we cannot undo what they suffered at the hands of those they trusted, we want to bring them at least some measure of justice.”