Don’t believe everything you read online
While Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson thought he was onto a winner with Beast Games, the real-life Squid Game copycat ended up being more trouble than it’s worth. Beast Games might’ve entered the record books by giving away the biggest cash prize ever for a reality TV series, but it ended up costing MrBeast a fortune and has seen him embroiled in several court cases.
As well as allegations of sexual harassment and mistreatment of contestants, there was an apparent accident on the set. If that wasn’t enough, eventual winner Jeffrey Randall Allen learned that taxes would mean he’d only end up with around $5 million of his $10 million winnings.
Now, Allen has lifted the lid on Beast Games, and as well as discussing his prize fund, he’s debunked the idea of contestant mistreatment.
Allen has spoken out in defense of Beast Games (Amazon MGM Studios)
When asked about the specific controversy surrounding the first round of filming that took place with 2,000 contestants at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium, Allen said: “I think anytime you’re doing something for the first time, it’s hard.
“Then you factor in it’s 2,000 people in the middle of the night, so I think the logistics were challenging.”
While suggesting there were some problems, Allen continued: “For me, my experience was if I’m going to go compete for $5 million, I don’t expect it to be the Ritz Carlton. I don’t expect it to be kind of the most lush bedding.”
Saying he thought he was going to ‘rough it’, Allen said they all got sleeping bags and had to sleep on the floor, but they were given three square meals a day. He says he ate all of his meals, consisting of the likes of chicken, eggs, and oatmeal, although some people didn’t appear to like theirs: “You know some people might have been disgruntled but my experience was exactly what I signed up for.”
Despite the Vegas teething problems, he says it soon got better: “Once we got to the Beast games on Prime, oh my gosh, like it was like the best accommodation, best food, the bedding in the city was fantastic.
