LOS ANGELES (CNS) – The contestants on a YouTuber’s Amazon game show, “Beast Games,” who say they were subjected to mistreatment and sexual harassment while working under the terms of unfair contracts, have been named in an amended version of the complaint.
The plaintiffs were previously identified only as contestants 1-5 in the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit filed last Sept. 16 against Amazon and Jimmy (MrBeast) Donaldson’s production company, MRB2024 LLC. Donaldson is not a defendant.
In the updated version of the suit filed Thursday, the contestants/plaintiffs now total seven and are identified as Matthew Rivera, Keshwan Clark, Kory Ingram, Jane Hurst, Gabrielle Mathews, Jordan Santana and April Holloway.
The original suit’s causes of action included sexual harassment, failure to prevent sexual harassment, unfair business practices, false advertising and a number of state Labor Code violations.
The amended complaint alleges additional causes of action for unfair business practices — unconscionable contract and falsely claiming application of California law protections — breach of contract, breach of implied contract, breach of implied covenant of good faith and failure to accommodate. A claim for negligent infliction of emotional distress is being dropped and Mysticart Pictures LLC is no longer a defendant.
The filing of the amended complaint was unopposed by the defense and was approved by Judge Laura Seigle.
The plaintiffs seek payment of all wages allegedly owed, an injunction forbidding the labor actions alleged and certification of the suit as a class-action complaint.
The contestants allege they were not paid proper wages, including overtime, and that they also were not given meal and rest breaks that they were entitled to under law.
“Defendant production companies and Amazon shamelessly exploited the labor of … people who served as contestants on the forthcoming $100 million MrBeast-Amazon production `Beast Games,’ which Amazon promotes as the world’s largest live game show with the biggest single prize in the history of television,” the suit states.
The entertainment value of the show “arises directly from the physical and emotional labor of the contestants who compete under pressure- cooker conditions for life-changing prize money, with one person purportedly to win $5 million in the end,” the suit alleges.
The defendants “employed superior bargaining power to coerce the contestants to sign unconscionable contracts with illegal terms and illusory obligations,” it continues.
Donaldson, 26, has more than 300 million YouTube followers.
Recent Comments