YOUTUBE sensation MrBeast has called on reality shows to increase their prize payouts for game contestants.
The U.S. Sun caught up with the Beast Games creator, 26, at the Breakthrough Prize gala in Santa Monica, Los Angeles, on Saturday, where he gave his two cents on game shows seemingly lowballing participants.
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MrBeast, born Jimmy Donaldson, described to The U.S. Sun how shocked he was when he learned that the $5 million prize on his Amazon Prime game show was the largest game show prize ever.
“When we gave away five million, and I saw that, that was the largest ever, I was like, I don’t know,” he said.
The finalists in season 3 of Peacock’s The Traitors reality show split the $204,300 cash prize between four.
Contestants Dolores Catania, Dylan Efron, Gabby Windey, and Ivar Mountbatten all walked away with a little over $50,000 – but their final take home pay will be less after they pay taxes.
Read more in The U.S. Sun
On popular dating show Love Island, the final couple standing takes home approximately $63,000 before taxes.
Meanwhile, contestants on CBS’ reality TV competition show Big Brother compete for a $500,000 to $750,000 cash prize.
MrBeast, who was accompanied by his fiancée Thea Booysen, criticized television networks for penny-pinching game show contestants when franchises profit billions in revenue.
“They probably should give away more prize pools,” MrBeast told The U.S. Sun.
“It’s weird that they don’t give away more, especially franchises that do billions in revenue.”
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$10 MILLION PRIZE
Beast Games is a reality competition where more than 1,000 participants compete in physical, mental, and social challenges for a single $5 million cash prize.
Jeffrey Randall Allen, who was recognized on the show as Player 831, succeeded in Beast Games and took home a whopping $10 million prize.
But, Allen, who earned the biggest prize hand out in TV history, revealed in a podcast in March that he took home less than half of his earning after taxes.
“The crazy thing about MrBeast, he doesn’t withhold taxes when he kind of gives the distribution. So I literally got $10 million wired to me,” Allen told the hosts of The Iced Coffee Hour.
“So, it’s up to me to do state taxes,” he added.
Allen admitted that the amount of tax he would have to pay back to the government depends on how he invested the money and how much still remained in his bank account.
If he chooses to leave the money sitting in a bank account, he estimates he could be forced to pay back almost $5million in taxes.
But, if he chooses to invest in non-profit organisations or give money to charitable organizations then the amount will be much less.
In March, Deal or No Deal Island winner David Genat won the biggest ever prize on a TV show yet it still only amounted to $5.8million.
He will still also lose millions from the prize after taxes.
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BEAST GAMES UNDER FIRE
However, the game show and its eye-watering prizes has been shrouded in scandals after five unnamed participants alleged they were subjected to dangerous conditions, including chronic mistreatment and sexual harassment.
In a lawsuit filed last September, the contestants accused MrBeast’s production company, Amazon, and the independent production firm Off One’s Base LLC of failing to provide them with basic necessities such as meals, breaks, access to basic hygiene, and sleep accommodations.
One meal, described by several different contestants, consisted of a small portion of cold oatmeal, a few pieces of raw vegetables and a single hard-boiled egg.
“While participants knew upon signing the contract at the production’s inception that they were facing a potentially long and challenging competition, they allege getting a lot more than they bargained for,” an attorney for the game show participants told Variety.
“Several contestants ending up hospitalized, while others reported suffering physical and mental complications while being subjected to chronic mistreatment, degradation and, for the female contestants, hostile working conditions.”
One female plaintiff in the suit, who was only identified as Contestant 5, told the outlet, “I wanted to join because I was a fan of MrBeast and 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.
“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.”
The plaintiffs are asking the court to order the production company and Amazon to be more transparent in Beast Games advertising to future applicants, to correctly classify the participants as employees, and to add workplace reforms and training programs for employees and supervisors to prevent further negligence and harassment, according to the suit.
The former contestants are also seeking millions of dollars in damages.
MrBeast has not responded publicly to the allegations, but in November, he posted on X that his production team has behind-the-scenes clips to prove the claims were “blown out of proportion.”
“We have tons of behind-the-scenes [clips] dropping when the show does, to show how blown out of proportion these claims were,” he wrote on X.
“Just can’t release it now because it would spoil the games.”
A spokesperson for MrBeast told The New York Times the popular YouTuber had started a formal review and had “taken steps to ensure that we learn from this experience.”
MrBeast’s apparent production company, MRB2024, and Amazon have not responded publicly to the accusations in the lawsuit.
A court hearing for the lawsuit is scheduled for April 14.
