Production on MrBeast's Massive Reality Series Has Reportedly Been an Unsafe Mess

By Dustin Rowles | TV | September 17, 2024 |

By Dustin Rowles | TV | September 17, 2024 |

YouTube’s MrBeast, who is known for his extreme challenges and self-serving philanthropic stunts, has recently ventured into the television world with Prime Video’s Beast Games. With 2,000 contestants vying for a $5 million prize, the production aims to be the largest reality show in history. According to Rolling Stone, MrBeast — who had complete control over the production — got in over his head. One crew member likened the experience to “a Fyre Fest kind of feeling.”

The show’s production, which kicked off in Vegas before heading to Toronto and Panama, has been beset with allegations of unsafe working conditions and logistical issues. Contestants in the Las Vegas round, for instance, reported sleeping on stadium floors, having their medication withheld, and suffering injuries.

Slate reported on this last month, as well, and contestants reported to them that it was chaotic and scary and that they didn’t feel safe. In addition to unsafe challenges, production wasn’t prepared for the needs of 2,000 contestants, be it food and water or even places to relieve themselves. Meanwhile, the challenges reportedly disadvantaged women and older people, but contestants stuck around, per Slate, because MrBeast “feeds on desperation.”

Conditions reportedly improved for contestants after production moved to Toronto, but not so much for the crew, which was non-union. Crew members reported working extremely long hours, sometimes exceeding 80 hours per week, with inadequate food provision and late or incorrect pay. Problems in Toronto were exacerbated when a major storm hit, which flooded the set. Crew members, nevertheless, were asked to continue working around submerged electrical equipment.

And yet, according to Rolling Stone, the scale of Beast Games is impressive. The Toronto set, built at an abandoned airport, features a sprawling village with airplane hangars, houses, and a large tower. Challenges reportedly include trivia, bribery-based eliminations, and physical tasks, like an extreme version of Capture the Flag.

However, the full scale of the issues may remain largely unknown because the production’s use of strict NDAs for both contestants and crew has left many unable to speak openly about their experiences. I suspect this soup of chaos, unsafe working conditions, and the $5 million prize will only feed more into the show’s eventual success. MrBeast’s success has invited more scrutiny — a close collaborator recently left the company after grooming allegations, and a couple of old videos have surfaced revealing that MrBeast used offensive and racially insensitive language — but none of it is likely to dent his position as the most popular creator on YouTube.

Source: Slate, Rolling Stone