Viral businessman, internet personality, and YouTube star James Stephen “Jimmy” Donaldson, more commonly known by his online alias, Mr. Beast, has taken the internet by storm since his start on the platform in 2012.

From his first mega sensational video in 2017, entitled “I Counted To 100,000!”, Donaldson has amassed 312 million subscribers as of August 2024.

Donaldson’s YouTube channel had humble beginnings, focusing on content surrounding video gaming and increasing in production quality as his channel grew in popularity.

Internet persona Mr. Beast is idolized by millions of young people for the intensity of his current content centered around charity work and high stake competitions involving large prizes, consisting of expensive vehicles, houses, and most commonly substantial sums of money.

On March 18, 2024, Donaldson decided to take a step up from his usual internet challenge videos and announced his partnership with Amazon Prime Video to produce a new game show entitled “Beast Games.”

Donaldson’s “Beast Games” would gain traction in the media, but for the wrong reasons.

The show, according to Amazon Studios, would feature the largest cast and cash prize in game show history, with a cast of 1,000 and a grand prize of $5 million.

Shooting for the show began months later in July, and it was almost immediately that contestants of the show began to question the production’s integrity, where straight off the bat, contestants saw that the initially communicated 1,000 contestants was much closer to 2,000.

Throughout the four days of filming, beginning on July 18 and wrapping up on July 22, dozens of contestants feared for their safety, with a severe issue of lack of properly trained staff and accommodations for contestants.

The set of “Beast Games”, to many involved, had been deemed an inhumane display of careless entertainment at the expense of its players.

The accusations regarding Donaldson and “Beast Games” include negligence surrounding participants’ health, lack of nutritious food and water supply, and an overall rigged and unfair atmosphere during the challenges.

Reporting on this topic and allegedly receiving first-hand information from contestants of the show is Rosanna Pansino, another YouTube personality who took to her platforms to spread awareness of the situation.

In a video originally uploaded to TikTok purposed to shed light upon the dangerous conditions on set, Pansino shared messages between herself and a competitor on the show regarding the alleged neglect that participants had experienced.

The informant, chosen to stay anonymous, said, “It was really bad! People were having seizures because they were not getting medication, even though we were promised we would. To make things worse, men started realizing that they could take out the women without being eliminated. Guys started tackling and hitting women. I saw people with broken bones, stitches, etc.”

Additionally, the informant claimed that at a Las Vegas hospital where many of the injured contestants were seeking medical attention, nurses confirmed the injuries because unlike the show’s participants, they were not required to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA).

The informant disclosed that since the filming had taken place, many of those involved in the show had contracted contagious diseases, such as pink eye and COVID-19, due to a lack of examination before admittance into the show.

Several contestants came out post-filming to address the lack of food and water given to them during their time in the competition. They described their meals as infrequent and stated that they were given no warning of how little they would be given to eat.

The meal situation was especially dire to those with specific dietary needs. Prior to entering the competition, those interested in signing up for “Beast Games” filled out forms disclosing food allergies and dietary restrictions, all of which were assured to be “taken into consideration” once filming commenced.

Several contestants described a meal provided by production to be a small portion of oatmeal accompanied by one hard-boiled egg and a few pieces of raw vegetables.

Various other health-related concerns were disclosed with and promised to be abided by the team responsible for “Beast Games”, including conditions that required necessary medications.

However, multiple contestants stated that they had not received their medication on time, including one diabetic player who claimed to have received it hours after the scheduled dosage time.

At the time of writing, Donaldson himself has yet to comment on the allegations his show is facing, but in a statement to The New York Times, a MrBeast spokesperson said that filming had been unfortunately complicated by extreme weather and other logistical and communication issues, and that production was taking a halt to ensure that they learn from the experience.