It was supposed to be their chance at a dream come true – the opportunity to win the "biggest single prize in the history of television and streaming".
The Beast Games.
More than 1,000 contestants, competing for a $US5 million ($7.3 million) prize in challenges in the style of YouTube's biggest content creator, MrBeast.
But conditions behind the scenes of the multi-million-dollar production are now the subject of a class action lawsuit targeting MrBeast, Amazon and others.
Contestants claim the production controlled their medication, controlled when they slept, when they ate, what they wore.
They allege they were "penned into enclosed spaces" and put into "dangerous" conditions without proper medical staff.
Seizures, multiple injuries, and sexual harassment all form part of the allegations listed in a legal complaint more than 50 pages long.
"The foregoing acts by defendants created an environment during Beast Games that was so void of human standards that [they] ended up volunteering to cover the cost of the contestants' therapy," the heavily redacted document reads.
"It was that bad."
MrBeast and Amazon have not commented on the complaint.
The man who built a YouTube empire 'studying the algorithm'
MrBeast, whose real name is James Donaldson, has made a name for himself as the biggest YouTuber on the planet.
His channel has 316 million subscribers.
Colourful thumbnails and emphasised titles promise extreme stunts, cash prizes and giveaways.
"I built Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory."
"I spent 50 hours buried alive."
"I saved 100 dogs from dying."
"I gave my 100,000,000th subscriber an island."
Supermarkets sell MrBeast chocolate bars. An online store sells MrBeast clothing, notebooks, pencils hats, footballs, skateboards and stickers.
Earlier this year thousands flocked to the Sydney Opera House to watch the 26-year-old film a video giving away 10 cars on the forecourt.
The content has a high production value and a consistent trending rate, something Mr Donaldson has said is deliberate.
In 2022, he told Rolling Stone: "There's a five-year point in my life where I was just relentlessly, unhealthily obsessed with studying virality, studying the YouTube algorithm."
But his most popular video to date remains his 2021 re-enactment of the hit Netflix series Squid Game, viewed more than 650 million times.
In the South Korean TV series, 456 struggling people compete in survival games for a prize of more than $55 million.
Recreating the competition cost more than $US3.5 million, including the $US1.5 million cash prizes promised to the winners.
Instead of being killed, remotely activated devices attached to each contestant simulated a shot to the gut.
[announcement tweet] Three years later, in March 2024, Amazon and Mr Donaldson announced a reality show inspired by MrBeast videos.
Mr Donaldson would act as the host and executive producer.
"My goal is to make the greatest show possible and prove YouTubers and creators can have success on other platforms," he said at the time.
"Amazon gave me the creative control I need to try and make it happen.
"I hope to make the YouTube community proud."
Four months later, filming got underway in the US state of Nevada.
Allegations of hours spent in 'enclosed spaces' under 'total control'
In July, contestants arrived at Allegiant Stadium, a domed venue home to the NFL's Las Vegas Raiders and capable of seating more than 65,000 people.
Some contestants said they had been told 1,000 people would vie for the prize money, only to find 2,000 people at the arena.
[biggest fears insta]A spokesperson for MrBeast told the New York Times the 2,000 competitors would be cut down to the 1,000 advertised for the Amazon show.
They said the video was not filming for the actual Amazon Prime show, but an initial tryout, in which the winners would go on to feature in the actual Beast Games.
"Once accepted … the contestants were required to put their lives on hold … to provide labour exclusively for defendants in exchange for compensation and a chance to win a 5 million dollar prize on Beast Games," the complaint reads.
Details of the agreements signed by contestants have been redacted in documents.
The complaint alleges they were told they would be compensated and were not allowed to accept any other employment during their time appearing on the show.
It also claims they were "intentionally" and "wrongfully" misclassified as something other than employees.
As filming began, they were allegedly under "complete control" of the production.
"Defendants exercised total control over the manner, means and timing of the work performed by the contestants, by controlling essentially every aspect of their lives during the production of the show," the complaint says.
"Defendants required the contestants to be physically present on specific dates and times, around-the-clock, at locations dictated, controlled and supervised by [the defendants]."
They were allegedly not given enough food, with one woman telling the New York Times she had gone more than 20 hours without being fed.
Others told the outlet meals were small and sporadic – one allegedly consisted of "cold oatmeal, one hard-boiled egg and a few pieces of raw vegetables".
They also alleged MrBeast's chocolate bars were handed out in order to film contestants eating and praising the candy.
A spokesperson for MrBeast said contestants had been offered three meals a day.
Few details have been made public about the nature of the production.
The class action alleges "dangerous conditions" and a lack of background checks.
"Even without considering whatever confidential conditions existed behind closed doors while the Beast Games was being filmed, the contestants were subjected to dangerous conditions within the course of their employment," it reads.
"The contestants were penned into enclosed spaces … under conditions where they were underfed, overtired … and competing in stressful and exhausting challenges for a cash prize that could change their lives.
"The danger, moreover, was exacerbated by defendants' seeming failure to conduct background checks [redacted].
"On information and belief, there was insufficient medical staff to attend to potential and actual injuries during the production.
"There were several reports of injuries."
The complaint cites allegations made by local media and other YouTubers of contestants being admitted to hospital "due to lack of food and water" and of female contestants being exposed to inappropriate behaviour.
Claims of a 'boys will be boys' atmosphere behind the scenes
One woman, identified in the complaint as Contestant 5, said in a statement to Variety she had signed up for the MrBeast production because "his videos made me smile during the COVID-19 pandemic".
"I expected to be challenged, but I didn't think I would be treated like nothing – less than nothing," she said.
"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."
Included alongside the complaint is a copy of an alleged "MrBeast employee handbook", titled "How to Succeed in a MrBeast Production".
The document was first posted online in August by fellow YouTube creator Rosanna Pansino.
The complaint alleges it "provides insight into the boys-will-be-boys working conditions" they claim were promoted behind the scenes of the production.
The document's authenticity has not been confirmed by Mr Donaldson himself.
In one section, titled "It's okay for the boys to be childish", employees are encouraged to "do everything you can to empower the boys when filming and help them make content".
"If talent wants to draw a dick on the whiteboard in the video or do something stupid, let them," it reads.
"Help them be idiots."
The specific allegations of sexual harassment made by contestants have been redacted.
However, documents reference "collective sexual harassment", "severe embarrassment" and a "hostile environment" faced by female contestants.
"At all relevant times … defendants' management, up to and including senior management and ownership, had actual and/or constructive notice that the violence and sexual harassment detailed herein was occurring within the workplace," it reads.
Lawyer says MrBeast 'must and will' be held accountable
There is no public release date for Beast Games.
The 1,000 participants who made it through the Nevada filming were set to film the next stage of the competition in Canada in early August.
A spokesperson for MrBeast declined to comment when contacted by media.
The Beast Games class action complaint was filed on September 16 in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Robert Pafundi, the lead counsel for those involved in the class action, told Variety: "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."
