Documents obtained by Business Insider reveal the terms that contestants of MrBeast’s competition show, “Beast Games,” were asked to agree to for a preliminary round.
The terms prohibit contestants from disclosing information about the show, which debuts Thursday on Amazon Prime Video. Contestants who break the agreement before the last episode airs must pay the producer and network $500,000 for each breach. After the last episode airs, each breach would cost contestants $100,000, the documents said.
The documents also ask contestants to agree that their portrayal in the program may be “disparaging, defamatory, embarrassing, or of an otherwise unfavorable nature” and may expose them to “public ridicule, humiliation, or condemnation.”
Daniel J. Ain, an entertainment lawyer at RPJ Law, said the terms were largely standard for a competition show but that some — like the threat of a $500,000 charge for each breach — were particularly expansive.
“The producers use every available tool to give them ultimate flexibility to make the show and protect themselves from liability,” Ain told BI, calling the documents a “contestant agreement on steroids.”
“Beast Games” is a 10-episode physical-competition show in which contestants compete for a $5 million prize. YouTube’s top star — whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson — is the host.
The show has attracted some controversy ahead of its release. A New York Times report in August cited “over a dozen” participants who said they didn’t receive enough food or medical care during the preliminary round of the competition in Las Vegas.
The documents obtained by BI relate to the Las Vegas taping, where over 2,000 contestants participated in physical challenges designed to see who would make the show’s official production round in Toronto.
The documents include information about the show, a contestant questionnaire form, and an outline of the show’s official rules and protocols. By signing the form, contestants gave full consent to the use of hidden cameras and recording devices, gave producers full discretion to edit footage, and agreed to participate for no money. Prizes were the only form of compensation.
A person close to the production characterized the Las Vegas production as a “promo shoot” for the show and said Amazon wasn’t involved. Amazon did not respond to a request for comment.
Read 24 pages of the documents below:
Editor’s note: BI omitted some pages from the document that included the contestant’s personal information and a few pages with minimal or repeated information.
