MrBeast is accused of creating “unsafe†employment conditions, including sexual harassment, and misrepresenting contestants' odds at winning his new Amazon reality show's US$5 million grand prize in a lawsuit filed Tuesday by five unnamed participants.
The filing alleges that the multimillion-dollar company behind YouTube's most popular channel failed to provide minimum wages, overtime pay, uninterrupted meal breaks and rest time for competitors — whose “work on the show was the entertainment product†sold by MrBeast.
A spokesperson for MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, told The Associated Press in an email that he had no comment on the new lawsuit.
Donaldson’s “Beast Games†was touted as the “biggest reality competition." It was supposed to put the North Carolina content creator in front of audiences beyond the YouTube platform where his record 316 million subscribers routinely watch his whimsical challenges that often carry lavish gifts of direct cash.
But its initial Las Vegas shoot began facing criticism before it even wrapped. Donaldson’s companies cast 2,000 people in an initial tryout this July where half could advance to the actual show's filming in Toronto.
Contestants only learned upon their arrival that the Las Vegas pool surpassed 1,000 competitors, according to the lawsuit, which significantly reducing their chances of victory. The lawsuit argues the “false advertising†violated California business laws that prohibit sweepstakes operators from “misrepresenting in any manner the odds of winning any prize."
The five anonymous competitors also said that “limited sustenance" and “insufficient medical staffing†endangered their health.
The filing alleges that production staff created a “toxic†work environment for women who faced “sexual harassment†throughout the contest. Those sections are heavily redacted in an effort to comply with “confidentiality provisions†signed by the competitors, according to a press release from their lawyers.
The lawsuit adds to the complaints — circulated by online influencers in the shoot's immediate aftermath — that an unorganized set had left some contestants injured and lacking in regular access to food and medication. Other participants have told AP they received two light meals each day and MrBeast branded chocolate bars.
MrBeast’s team also faces new accusations they “knowingly misclassified†the contestants’ employment status to the Nevada Film Commission in order to receive a state tax credit for more than US$2 million.
Among other forms of relief, the five competitors seek an order that MrBeast institute “workplace reforms†and awards “all wages owed."
Last month, amid several public relations crises, Donaldson ordered a full assessment of his YouTube empire's internal culture and outlined plans to require company-wide sensitivity training.
No more details have been divulged and no date has been publicized for the reality game show's release.
Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
The federal government will be further limiting the number of international students permitted to enter Canada next year. It’s the government’s latest immigration-related measure to address Canadians' ongoing housing and affordability concerns.
The Conservatives' first shot at toppling the Liberal government is doomed to fail, after Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-François Blanchet told reporters his MPs will vote confidence in the government.
Lebanon's health ministry said Wednesday that at least 14 people were killed and 450 others wounded by exploding electronic devices in multiple regions of the country. The explosions came a day after an apparent Israeli attack targeting pagers used by Hezbollah killed at least 12 and wounded nearly 3,000. Here are the latest updates.
Just one day after pagers used by hundreds of members of the militant group Hezbollah exploded, more electronic devices detonated in Lebanon Wednesday in what appeared to be a second wave of sophisticated, deadly attacks that targeted an extraordinary number of people. Here's what we know so far.
Canada abstained today from a high-profile United Nations vote demanding that Israel end its 'unlawful presence' in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank within a year.
Two lucky people in Ontario and Quebec will split Tuesday’s record-breaking $80-million Lotto Max jackpot.
Rogers Communications Inc. is buying out Bell's 37.5 per cent share of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment for $4.7 billion, giving it 75 per cent ownership of the sports conglomerate.
Video of a brazen daylight auto theft which shows a suspect running over a victim in a stolen luxury SUV has been released by police west of Toronto.
A B.C couple has been ordered to stop living in a motorhome on the property where their under-construction home – which they were first given a permit to build more than six years ago – has become an “eyesore,†according to a recent court decision.
A B.C couple has been ordered to stop living in a motorhome on the property where their under-construction home – which they were first given a permit to build more than six years ago – has become an “eyesore,†according to a recent court decision.
Video of a brazen daylight auto theft which shows a suspect running over a victim in a stolen luxury SUV has been released by police west of Toronto.
May 9, 2022 was the day Blayne McKay thought he was going to die. He called his wife to say goodbye, after getting electrocuted at the SaskPower Island Falls Hydroelectric Station, about 100 kilometres northwest of Flin Flon.
More than a dozen soldiers were sent to hospital this afternoon after an accident at a military base in Quebec.
A crew member of a Canadian Coast Guard ship has been lost at sea off southern Newfoundland.
An ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey named Goliath is missing from its longtime home at a veterinary hospital south of Calgary.
Lawyers for Sean "Diddy Combs asked a judge Wednesday to let him await his sex trafficking trial at his luxury home on an island near Miami Beach, rather than a grim federal jail in Brooklyn.
Gisele Pelicot, who was drugged and raped by dozens of men recruited by her husband, on Wednesday called the men standing trial 'degenerates.'
A U.S. court on Tuesday upheld disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell's conviction on sex trafficking charges for helping the late financier Jeffrey Epstein abuse underage girls.
Former first lady Melania Trump posted a new video on social media Wednesday defending her previous nude modelling work as she promoted her new book.
Just one day after pagers used by hundreds of members of the militant group Hezbollah exploded, more electronic devices detonated in Lebanon Wednesday in what appeared to be a second wave of sophisticated, deadly attacks that targeted an extraordinary number of people. Here's what we know so far.
The U.S. Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation has released footage showing the wreckage of the Titan submersible as part of the public hearing into the vessel's implosion in June 2023.
The Conservatives' first shot at toppling the Liberal government is doomed to fail, after Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-François Blanchet told reporters his MPs will vote confidence in the government.
Two Liberal ministers are accusing Conservatives of lending their support to protesters who harassed Jagmeet Singh, among others, outside of Parliament Hill this week.
Canadian ambassador to China says Ottawa's complex relationship with Beijing means some facets of the relationship are speeding along while others are in reverse.
More people who have never touched a cigarette are getting lung cancer, but there are ways to prevent it, according to a doctor.
With its line-up of sweet snacks, Hershey isn’t known as a purveyor of diet foods. However, the company’s newest products are made specifically for those on a fitness kick.
Doses of Moderna's updated COVID-19 vaccine are expected to begin arriving in Canada 'within days,' a spokesperson for the Public Health Agency of Canada says, although availability will depend on the immunization rollout in each province and territory.
Australian police said Wednesday they have infiltrated Ghost, an encrypted global communications app developed for criminals, leading to dozens of arrests.
Ontario Provincial Police are warning social media users about recent scams.
Qualcomm lost its bid on Wednesday to get a European Union antitrust penalty thrown out after a top court largely rebuffed the technology company's arguments in the case involving cellphone chipsets.
Lawyers for Sean "Diddy Combs asked a judge Wednesday to let him await his sex trafficking trial at his luxury home on an island near Miami Beach, rather than a grim federal jail in Brooklyn.
In 2011, a young Taylor Swift said she was not inspired to sing about topics related to politics. Over a decade later, she's singing a different tune.
MrBeast is accused of creating 'unsafe' employment conditions, including sexual harassment, and misrepresenting contestants' odds at winning his new Amazon reality show's US$5 million grand prize in a lawsuit filed Tuesday by five unnamed participants.
Vacancies have steadily fallen since the glut of nearly one million open posts in 2022. At the time, one in three businesses had trouble hiring staff due to a labour shortage. Since then, vacancies have dropped.
Low entry-level pay in the tentative deal between Air Canada and its pilots could be a stumbling block ahead of a union vote on the agreement, some aviators and experts say.
With Canada's annual inflation rate reaching the central bank's two per cent target, the country's affordability crisis could be peaking, according to an economist.
Buying a historic cruise ship he found on Craigslist back in 2008 was undoubtedly a life-altering decision for Chris Willson. In October 2023, Willson made the painful decision to sell the vessel, which began sinking around seven months later. Now its future looks bleak.
The Michelin Guide's famous inspectors have ventured outside Toronto's city limits.
Summer days are drifting away, but a group of B.C. seniors had one lively summer night this week – watching "Grease" at a simulated drive-in movie theatre.
Las Vegas Aces superstar A’ja Wilson and Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark both broke WNBA records Sunday, with Wilson becoming the first player to score 1,000 points in a single season and Clark breaking the rookie scoring record.
Vancouver Canucks forward Dakota Joshua revealed Tuesday he underwent cancer treatment over the summer, and will not be ready to play when the team's training camp begins later this week.
The Maple Leafs unveiled their new helmet partner that really puts the 'o' in Toronto.
Video of a brazen daylight auto theft which shows a suspect running over a victim in a stolen luxury SUV has been released by police west of Toronto.
The plant was expected to produce batteries for a million electric vehicles a year. Once up and running, it was supposed to create hundreds of permanent jobs in a small southeastern Ontario municipality. But two years later, spending on the construction of the Umicore plant has been delayed in what the company calls a "significant worsening of the EV market context."
A Winnipeg man is asking for help after a classic car that has been a part of his family since the 1950s was stolen from his garage.
An ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey named Goliath is missing from its longtime home at a veterinary hospital south of Calgary.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.
It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.
A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.
David Krumholtz, known for roles like Bernard the Elf in The Santa Clause and physicist Isidor Rabi in Oppenheimer, has spent the latter part of his summer filming horror flick Altar in Winnipeg. He says Winnipeg is the most movie-savvy town he's ever been in.
Edmontonians can count themselves lucky to ever see one tiger salamander, let alone the thousands one local woman says recently descended on her childhood home.
A daytrip to the backcountry turned into a frightening experience for a Vancouver couple this weekend.
If you take a look to the right of Hilda Duddridge’s 100th birthday cake, you’ll see a sculpture of a smiling girl extending her arms forward.
Two sisters have finally been reunited with a plane their father built 90 years ago, that is also considered an important part of Canadian aviation history.
A report led by the Canada Research Chair in Urban Governance says restrictions on short-term rentals in British Columbia have reduced rents by 5.7 per cent, saving tenants more than $600 million last year
Mayors and councillors voting at the annual convention of the Union of BC Municipalities have passed three special resolutions, two of them focussed on housing and the third on rural health care.
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association has called on B.C. Premier David Eby to abandon the province's planned expansion of involuntary care for people suffering from a combination of drug addiction, brain injuries and mental health issues.
Two people are dead following an early-morning shooting at a park in a quiet neighbourhood in Keswick, York Regional Police say. Police confirmed just before 11 a.m. that they were investigating a double homicide at Bayview Park. YRP said they responded to the sounds of gunshots at the park just before 7:30 a.m.
Rogers Communications Inc. is buying out Bell's 37.5 per cent share of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment for $4.7 billion, giving it 75 per cent ownership of the sports conglomerate.
Video of a brazen daylight auto theft which shows a suspect running over a victim in a stolen luxury SUV has been released by police west of Toronto.
Alberta's transportation minister says the City of Calgary's decision to wind down the Green Line LRT project is "unfortunate†— but he isn’t completely closing the door on the transit initiative.
A Calgary man has been charged with sexual assault and sexual interference in relation to an incident with a 12-year-old child that took place in the southeast Calgary community of Walden.
An ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey named Goliath is missing from its longtime home at a veterinary hospital south of Calgary.
Photographs of eyeglasses with an apparent broken arm, a purse with a "severed" strap and a reusable bag filled with groceries at the bottom of a staircase were among those shown to the jury at the first-degree murder trial of Hamid Ayoub Wednesday morning.
A search is underway in the Ottawa River for a 30-year-old woman reported missing while kayaking near Pembroke, Ont.
Ottawa City Council has voted to maintain O-Train Line 1 service at current levels to give OC Transpo additional time to study ridership patterns this fall.
Black men who are the victims of racial profiling and harassment by police forces in Quebec say they are being asked to sign non-disclosure agreements in order to receive their settlement cheques.
The federal Liberals' political lieutenant for Quebec, Pablo Rodriguez, will run for the leadership of the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ). He is scheduled to make the announcement Thursday in Gatineau.
Quebec provincial police are investigating the death of a five-year-old boy found in a home about 55 kilometres southwest of Montreal.
Flames tore through a residential development, including both homes that were occupied and under construction, in southwest Edmonton early Wednesday morning.
For the Edmonton Oilers, the hope is that they can repeat what the Florida Panthers did last season — win it all the year after losing the Stanley Cup final.
The Edmonton Police Services is investigating a hit-and-run collision involving a U-Haul pulling a stolen boat that happened last week.
Transport Canada has ordered a bankrupt tidal power company and a bankruptcy trustee to produce a plan to remove four huge moorings abandoned in the water near Walton, N.S.
A Woods Harbour, N.S., man is facing dozens of charges after police seized weapons and drugs from South Shore homes last Friday.
A streak of sunny and hot mid-September weather set new high temperatures records in the Maritimes.
More than $300,000 worth of stolen vehicles were seized from a Winnipeg compound earlier this month, police announced Wednesday.
Southern Manitoba was hit with torrential downpours, overland flooding and thunderstorms at the start of the week, with some communities receiving upwards of 200 millimetres (mm) of rain.
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said an MLA ousted from his caucus this week was given a choice before he was shown the door.
The Government of Saskatchewan has said it will not accept asylum seekers under a recent federal proposal to relocate them across Canada.
Those in downtown and North Central Regina will see an increased police presence on Wednesday as the Regina Police Service (RPS) continues a community outreach initiative.
A 14-year-old student who allegedly set her classmate on fire is facing a new charge.
Police are hoping the public can help them locate three missing people from Kitchener.
The federal government will be further limiting the number of international students permitted to enter Canada next year. It’s the government’s latest immigration-related measure to address Canadians' ongoing housing and affordability concerns.
Wellington County Ontario Provincial Police responded to a serious motor vehicle collision on Wellington Road 18, just west of Salem.
May 9, 2022 was the day Blayne McKay thought he was going to die. He called his wife to say goodbye, after getting electrocuted at the SaskPower Island Falls Hydroelectric Station, about 100 kilometres northwest of Flin Flon.
A 14-year-old student who allegedly set her classmate on fire is facing a new charge.
Catherine Sanche says her cousin and best friend Emily Sanche never feared her boyfriend Thomas Hamp would hurt her in the weeks leading up to her death in February 2022.
North Bay Police Service says one person has died following an industrial accident at the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission Rail Yard on Tuesday.
Security video shows a man breaking into a thrift store operated by a Sudbury animal rescue and stealing items from a jewelry case Tuesday morning.
In court Wednesday, the director of Ontario's Complex Prosecutions Bureau said he was staying criminal charges against the Ministry of Labour and five others in connection with a mining fatality in 2006.
Fanshawe College is being sued over supposed deficiencies in its paralegal program. A proposed class action seeks $10 million in damages on behalf of hundreds of students enrolled in the college's paralegal program since 2020.
You need only look at the new Norbec plant in Strathroy-Caradoc to see what they manufacture inside.
London police have released a description of a suspect wanted in relation to an $800,000 arson investigation. Fire crews were called to an abandoned residence at the corner of Dundas Street and Hewitt Street earlier this month.
Check your lottery tickets because someone who purchased a ticket in Grey County is an overnight multi-millionaire, having won half of the historic lottery jackpot.
York Regional Police say two people are dead after a shooting at a park in the community of Keswick.
Police in Barrie are investigating a different type of porch piracy after a man was caught on camera walking off with some outdoor furniture.
Windsor police are asking for the public’s help to identify two suspects involved in a $64,000 bank fraud investigation.
Windsor police say a pedestrian was taken to hospital with serious injuries after getting hit by a vehicle in south Windsor.
Windsor police have arrested two suspects in connection to an attempted robbery with a weapon on Erie Street.
A report led by the Canada Research Chair in Urban Governance says restrictions on short-term rentals in British Columbia have reduced rents by 5.7 per cent, saving tenants more than $600 million last year
Mayors and councillors voting at the annual convention of the Union of BC Municipalities have passed three special resolutions, two of them focussed on housing and the third on rural health care.
TransLink says it is one step closer to meeting its net-zero emissions targets after converting its West Coast Express commuter trains between Vancouver and the Fraser Valley to renewable diesel fuel.
Animal protection officers in British Columbia have rescued three pit bulls – including one that gave birth to 10 puppies – from a rat-infested home in Kelowna.
More than a year after a missing Kamloops, B.C., woman’s body was found, her son has been arrested and charged with her murder, Mounties announced Friday.
A woman suffered life-threatening injuries after being stabbed during a home invasion in Kelowna, according to authorities.
The City of Lethbridge's encampment response team continues to see a rise in the number of people experiencing homelessness throughout the summer months.
Two 16-year-old boys have been charged with arson following a fire at a Lethbridge building earlier this month.
The City of Lethbridge says water usage this summer was lower than expected.
North Bay Police Service says one person has died following an industrial accident at the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission Rail Yard on Tuesday.
Three northern Ontario residents are charged with drug trafficking after the vehicle they were in got stuck along a bush road off Highway 17 on Monday.
A 50-year-old man in the Sault has been charged following an assault on Saturday that involved the use of a hammer.
Newfoundland and Labrador's chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
A 16-year-old biennial event aimed at fostering business in the country's eastern Arctic and northern regions has been cancelled indefinitely as a dispute unfolds between Inuit in Canada and a Labrador group claiming to share their heritage.
Jim Lester’s farm hopped on the cow-cuddling trend in early August, and his time slots have been pretty well sold out ever since.
The Shopping Trends team is independent of the journalists at CTV News. We may earn a commission when you use our links to shop. Read about us.
