MrBeast blames terrible Beast Games conditions on the CrowdStrike outage

The New York Times is reporting that after 2,000 contestants arrived at Allegiant Stadium this July, they were barely fed and didn’t receive their prescription medication or clean underwear on time — despite providing it to the organizers themselves. (The 1,000 contestants who make it through can return for the Beast Games Amazon show, but this segment is for Donaldson’s YouTube channel.)

The Times’ story is filled with anecdotes from over a dozen contestants who say they were mistreated by organizers, like this:

One contestant said she had initially been denied the food she required to take her medication and had been told by staff members that she didn’t actually need to eat. After asking repeatedly, she was given half a banana.

But MrBeast isn’t apologizing, at least not yet. In fact, he’s not even quoted in the Times. Instead, the NYT received a text message from a spokesperson for MrBeast that blamed external factors, including CrowdStrike, instead of any poor planning on its part:

“In a text message, a spokesperson for MrBeast said the shoot “was unfortunately complicated by the CrowdStrike incident, extreme weather and other unexpected logistical and communications issues.” The spokesperson said MrBeast had started a formal review and had “taken steps to ensure that we learn from this experience.”