MrBeast Says His Videos 'Suffered a Bit' After New Project Announcement

MrBeast has said his recent YouTube videos "suffered a bit" while he dedicated his time to Beast Games, a reality competition show he created with Prime Video.

At 26 years old, MrBeast—real name Jimmy Donaldson—holds the record for the most subscribers on YouTube, which was 332 million at the time of writing. In January 2022, Forbes ranked him as the highest-earning content creator, with an estimated annual income of $54 million, drawn mostly from ads on his YouTube videos. MrBeast has reinvested some of that income into his content. In his latest project, the upcoming Beast Games, more than 1,000 participants competed for a $5 million payday.

On Monday, MrBeast shared a teaser for the new show on X, formerly Twitter, writing: "I spent over a year creating this 10 episode competition series, breaking 40 world records, building the craziest sets in entertainment history, featuring 1,000 players, and a $5,000,000 grand prize! I poured everything I have into this show, I'll see you December 19th on @PrimeVideo!"

An X user commented, "So everyone thought you were laying low and instead you were just breaking records," to which MrBeast responded, "My recent YouTube videos def suffered a bit from me filming this show/spending a bajillion hours on it, whoops."

Beast Games was inspired by Netflix's South Korean hit Squid Game, a survival thriller and horror television series that sees cash-strapped contestants compete for a tempting prize with deadly stakes.

In the teaser trailer MrBeast shared, contestants are dressed in blue tracksuits that feature their contestant numbers, reminiscent of Squid Game. The teaser also shows that the challenges involve, among other things, monster trucks, a pirate ship and a helicopter.

Newsweek contacted a spokesperson for MrBeast for comment by email outside normal business hours.

When the X account for the entertainment news site Dexerto shared the Beast Games teaser, one user commented, "Is this the same one where a lot of contestants complained of terrible conditions?"

MrBeast replied: "We have tons of behind the scenes dropping when the show does to show how blown out of proportion these claims were. Just can't release it now because it would spoil the games."

MrBeast at Amazon's Prime Day "Ultimate Crown" gaming event at HyperX Arena in Las Vegas on July 9, 2022. The internet celebrity said dedicating time to his show "Beast Games" negatively affected his YouTube channel.... Denise Truscello/Getty Images for Amazon's Crown Channel

In September, the Los Angeles Superior Court accepted a class-action lawsuit filed against MrBeast's companies and the production arm of Amazon. The suit involves participants in MrBeast's reality competition show and alleges multiple labor law violations, false advertising and unfair business practices.

Five contestants are suing the internet celebrity, alleging "unreasonable, unsafe and unlawful employment conditions." The participants say they were deprived of medical care, food, sleep and the necessities of basic hygiene. The filing alleges that production staff created a "toxic" work environment and that women experienced "sexual harassment."

According to a news release from the complainants' lawyers, those sections were redacted to comply with the "confidentiality provisions" that the competitors signed.

"I wanted to join [the class action] because I was a fan of MrBeast and his videos made me smile during the COVID-19 pandemic," said one of the female plaintiffs in the complaint, identified only as "Contestant 5."

"I expected to be challenged, but I didn't think I would be treated like nothing—less than nothing. And as one of the women, I can say it absolutely felt like a hostile environment for us. We honestly could not have been respected less—as people, much less employees—if they tried," she continued.

Some of the plaintiffs also allege that they have not been paid for participating in the show.

"As extreme as the allegations against defendants are here, the law could not be more clear," said Robert N. Pafundi of Pafundi Law Firm, the plaintiffs' lead counsel.

He added: "Participants entered into contracts and they were promised compensation for their services. Their expectation of compensation, along with them being consistently under the control and supervision of the production staff, makes them employees under California law. As such, they were entitled to, and denied, certain protections. And when you add to that the extreme neglect, degradation, harassment and inhumane conditions—it's quite simply a massive dereliction of duty, for which the defendants must and will now be held accountable."