• MrBeast spent $14 million building a "city" for his "Beast Games" show.
• The show, premiering on December 19, features 1,000 contestants and a $5 million prize.
• Controversy has surrounded the show with complaints about conditions and a potential lawsuit.

MrBeast has shared some photos of the "city" he built as part of his upcoming game show, "Beast Games," which he says cost $14 million.

"We spent $14,000,000 building a city in a field for the contestants in Beast Games to live and compete in," MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, wrote on X, alongside four photos of the set. "December 19th is almost here 🥰"

Donaldson, YouTube's biggest star with 335 million subscribers, has already shared some details about the scale of production on "Beast Games."

In an interview with fellow YouTubers KSI and Logan Paul, Donaldson revealed he'd "spent way more than $100 million" on the show and recently shared that the production had broken 40 world records.

Amazon has also promoted "Beast Games" as "the world's largest live gameshow" with the "biggest single prize in the history of television and streaming" of $5 million.

It premiers on Prime Video on December 19 and is supposed to kick-start Amazon's video ad sales efforts by attracting a wide audience and appealing to advertisers.

In one X post, Donaldson was asked how he planned to make up the money he spent on "Beast Games."

"The goal is to make the best content possible not make money," he replied.

In the trailer, which dropped on December 6, Donaldson promised that "Beast Games" would be "the most insane competition show you've ever seen" with 1,000 contestants. Clips included footage of the $5 million grand prize, a massive pirate ship, monster trucks, Navy seals, and stunts.

One of the photos Donaldson shared was "a render of the city," which had a moat running around the outside.

"We ran out of time and didn't get around to building the moat," he said in response to one query on X. "But everything else is accurate."

The set of the specially built "city" is in Toronto, CBC reported in September.

Toronto City Hall's film and entertainment department confirmed to the outlet that it was the site but declined to comment further for "confidentiality reasons."

Donaldson's rep confirmed the city's site as Toronto and told BI that Donaldson donated many of the goods used in the shoot, including mattresses, sleeping bags, and clothing, to local organizations afterward.

Paramedics and firefighters confirmed to CBC that they were aware of the production, and police told the outlet that its department's explosive disposal unit was consulted.

CBC drone footage showed a large cement tower and two rows of single-story houses surrounded by a red wall.

"Beast Games" aligns with Amazon's strategy of increasing spending on entertainment and sports content.

The show's coverage has not been entirely smooth sailing, though. Both Donaldson and conditions on set have faced bad press.

Some contestants have complained about inadequate living conditions, injuries, insufficient hygiene on set, and being subjected to sexism in a New York Times report. Five contestants are seeking to file a class-action lawsuit, though a rep for Donaldson told BI nobody has been served yet.

Amazon declined to comment on the lawsuit to BI. A spokesperson for Donaldson previously told BI that Amazon was not involved in the Las Vegas round of the show, where many of the allegations surfaced, which was "a promotional video shoot."

The spokesperson also said that this shoot was "unfortunately complicated by the CrowdStrike incident, extreme weather, and other unexpected logistical and communications issues."

Much of the rumors and allegations directed at Donaldson and the show went unanswered for months until Donaldson appeared on YouTube Oompaville's channel to address everything at once on November 23.

Donaldson said he could not address some of the allegations due to legal proceedings, but he described some of the claims about injuries on set as "disinformation."

• Connor Franta is suing his Heard Well business partners. He says they used the company as a "piggy bank."
• Franta accuses them of embezzlement to the tune of more than $1 million.
• Lawyers for all three defendants denied the allegations to Business Insider.

YouTube star Connor Franta is suing his business partners, alleging in a lawsuit that they embezzled more than $1 million from the company they cofounded in 2015.

In the suit, filed in California Superior Court this week, Franta — a 32-year-old YouTuber with 4.8 million subscribers — is suing his cofounders in Heard Well, a music label that works with influencers. He also names the company's business manager — who is the father of one of the cofounders — as a defendant, accusing him of turning a blind eye to the alleged theft.

The business partners and manager all denied the allegations in statements to Business Insider.

The suit alleges Heard Well cofounder Jeremy Wineberg used an American Express Black Card obtained in the company's name for personal expenses, including international travel, concert tickets, tattoos, groceries, and plastic surgery. The suit says Wineberg "systematically looted the company of essentially every penny," using Heard Well funds to pay the Amex balances.

Another cofounder, Franta's former CAA agent Andrew Graham, also "converted thousands of Heard Well dollars" for personal use, the suit alleges. The suit says Graham was not "the principal bad actor."

CAA is a leading Hollywood talent agency with a digital arm that represents influencers on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. The agency works with creators to monetize their followings through brand partnerships, consumer products, and other business ventures. CAA is not named as a defendant in the suit.

Wineberg, and to a lesser extent Graham, used the company's earnings as "a de facto personal piggy bank," the suit alleges.

Meanwhile, Franta, in the lawsuit, said Lindsay Wineberg & Associates — Heard Well's business manager and accountant, led by Jeremy Wineberg's father — acted negligently by turning the other cheek, "and in doing so negligently facilitated the draining of over $1 million of company monies into the personal pockets of Wineberg (and Graham)."

Bryan Sullivan, a lawyer for Jeremy Wineberg and Lindsay Wineberg & Associates, said the allegations aren't true.

"The lawsuit filed by Connor Franta is without merit," Sullivan told Business Insider in a statement. Sullivan said his clients never "engaged in any misconduct."

"We intend to pursue all of our rights and expect to be vindicated in Court," Sullivan said.

John Shenk, a lawyer for Graham, told BI in a statement that his client "denies the allegations of the complaint and looks forward to defending this case in court."

Graham told BI that he no longer represents Franta, nor does CAA.

Franta has been on YouTube for more than a decade and is also the author of the memoir "A Work in Progress." He cofounded Heard Well in 2015, with each of the cofounders contributing $2,000 to capitalize the startup, according to an operating agreement that was filed as part of the lawsuit.

Heard Well published dozens of albums, but Franta "hardly saw a dime of profit directed his way throughout the company's nearly 10-year lifespan," the suit says.

This spring, the suit says, Franta learned Heard Well had fallen behind on royalty payments after a YouTube video accused the company of scamming.

Heard Well's Instagram account was active as of Thursday, though Franta said in the suit that he's been blocked from the company's social media accounts.

"Acting with integrity and respect in all my professional endeavors — especially with fellow creators — has always been a top priority for me," Franta told BI in a statement.

He said that while the matter had only recently come to his attention, he'd taken action this week "to protect the company and to facilitate its pursuit of all necessary and appropriate legal remedies."

• MrBeast said his Amazon show "Beast Games" broke 40 world records.
• It comes amid allegations of poor conditions and a class-action lawsuit filed by some contestants.
• MrBeast finally addressed a lot of the accusations this week, but questions remain.

MrBeast said his upcoming $100 million Amazon reality show "Beast Games" broke 40 Guinness World Records.

"Guinness just dropped off some of the world records we broke while filming Beast Games lol," MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, wrote on X on Wednesday. "IM SO EXCITED TO DROP THIS SHOW IN 22 DAYS 🥰"

While he didn't reveal the full details of the records, he hinted at a few, including the largest cash prize in a game show, the most cables for a show, and the "largest island given away in a show."

It's not been smooth sailing

Donaldson, 26, is YouTube's biggest creator, with 332 million subscribers. He rose to fame with his ambitious stunts, including recreating Netflix's "Squid Game."

"Beast Games" is along the same vein, featuring at least 1,000 contestants.

Amazon has promoted it as "the world's largest live gameshow" with the "biggest single prize in the history of television and streaming" of $5 million.

Amazon announced the reality competition in March. It was supposed to kick-start Amazon's video ad sales efforts, attracting a wide audience and appealing to advertisers.

However, coverage of the show has not been entirely smooth sailing.

As well as complaints from contestants about inadequate living conditions, some have also said they were injured, not given access to hygiene products and medical care, and subjected to sexism in a New York Times report, and a class-action lawsuit five of them filed in September.

Amazon declined to comment on the lawsuit to BI. A spokesperson for Donaldson previously told BI that Amazon was not involved in the Las Vegas round of the show, where many of the allegations surfaced, which was "a promotional video shoot."

The spokesperson also said that this shoot was "unfortunately complicated by the CrowdStrike incident, extreme weather, and other unexpected logistical and communications issues."

Much of the rumors and allegations directed at Donaldson and the show went unanswered for months until Donaldson appeared on YouTube Oompaville's channel to address everything at once on November 23.

Donaldson said he could not address some of the allegations due to legal proceedings, but he described some of the claims about injuries on set as "disinformation."

Since then, Donaldson has also been more outspoken on his social media.

"We have tons of behind-the-scenes dropping when the show does to show how blown out of proportion these claims were," he wrote on X in response to a user who enquired about the "terrible conditions" on the show. "Just can't release it now because it would spoil the games."

None of the above has tempered production of "Beast Games," with Donaldson releasing a teaser on November 25, saying he had "poured everything I have into this show."

"I'll see you December 19th," he said, confirming the show's release date.

Future projects could be more difficult

Donaldson previously revealed he'd "spent way more than $100 million" on "Beast Games." He didn't clarify if this was the budget for one season, but the show has only been commissioned for one so far.

The move lines up with Amazon's strategy of increasing spending on entertainment and sports content, which "Beast Games" was supposed to be a benchmark for.

Donaldson has largely shrugged off bad press over the years, but partnering with a giant like Amazon has put more eyes on him than ever.

Creator economy experts previously told BI that "Beast Games" would not be going anywhere despite the negative headlines. But they warned that the top YouTuber may find it harder to fund his next big project because of the headache it caused Amazon.

"They'll still do partnerships with him," Diana D'Angelo, the CEO of Breaking Creatives Agency, told BI. "But maybe they'll put a bigger check on what he's actually doing and how it's being done."