YouTuber MrBeast is suing a Toronto company for $5 million over the production of Beast Games
The company, MHQ, says it’s entitled to the payment and is countersuing for $5 million more
YouTube superstar MrBeast—a.k.a. Jimmy Donaldson—has launched a multimillion-dollar dispute with a Toronto production company over the first season of his reality show, Beast Games, which was filmed in the city in August and September of 2024. The second season of the show, which was filmed in Las Vegas, just wrapped up on Prime Video, but the legal fallout from the first season continues.
In a statement of claim filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, MRB2024, LLC—the company that produces Donaldson’s streaming content—seeks the return of a $5-million advance payment it says it made to Toronto-based Media Headquarters Film and Television Inc. (MHQ) before it broke off their agreement and completed the show with a different production partner.
Meanwhile, in its statement of defence and counterclaim, MHQ says it is entitled to keep the initial payment and doubles down, asking for $5 million more, alleging that the success of the show was built on the back of MHQ’s work even as the controversial project did lasting damage to its reputation in the local film industry. None of the allegations in either document have been proven in court.
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According to the filings, Donaldson’s company approached MHQ in the spring of 2024 with an ambitious plan to film and air the completed Beast Games series by December of the same year—despite the massive scale of the show, which required a location large enough to house more than 1,000 contestants and crew members. The parties agreed that Donaldson’s company paid MHQ $5 million on May 23, 2024, though the terms of the deal are contested.
Within a week of the payment, Donaldson’s company decided to relocate Beast Games to Atlanta, Georgia, and dropped MHQ—only to reverse course the following week after deciding that the US location was not viable. According to its claim, Donaldson’s company had to start from scratch on the production in Toronto after MHQ refused an offer to re-engage. The YouTuber’s company added that it has repeatedly sought the return of the $5 million, alleging that it has not seen any evidence of expenses incurred by MHQ in connection with the show.
For its part, MHQ says that it has provided plenty of information about its expenses, alleging that the initial $5-million payment was meant to reflect its “all-in commitment of time, reputation and company resources” after dropping other opportunities and redirecting its senior leadership to focus on the Beast Games show. The project’s brief cancellation “had a devastating impact on MHQ’s reputation as a reliable and trustworthy producer,” reads the statement of defence. MHQ alleges that, after Donaldson’s company reversed course, the Toronto firm was “forced to terminate recently-retained crew members en masse,” many of whom had taken the job at the expense of other opportunities.
“In practical terms, MHQ created the blueprint that enabled the show to be executed successfully,” the company adds in its counterclaim for $5 million in damages. MHQ alleges that, after it was taken off the project, Donaldson’s company capitalized on much of its work, including location sourcing, creative personnel recruitment, immigration plans for incoming workers and tax credit strategy. In its legal filing, MHQ also alludes to the “numerous scandals” arising from the production of Beast Games. As the project progressed without MHQ, Canadian performers’ union ACTRA issued a “do not work” notice to its members regarding the project, and Ontario’s Ministry of Labour investigated an on-set injury at the miniature village created for the show at Downsview Park.
Meanwhile, several plaintiffs launched a class action lawsuit in California, alleging that Donaldson’s company had created unsafe conditions at a pre-show shoot in Las Vegas and had misrepresented participants’ chances of winning the show’s $5-million (US) grand prize. That lawsuit is ongoing, though Donaldson’s company has sought to have it dismissed and none of its allegations have been proven in court.
“MHQ has been unfairly tarred by association with Beast in that regard, without receiving any of the corresponding benefit (whether financial or in the form of an executive producer credit) that should have accrued to it as a result of its work on the production,” MHQ’s claim reads.
More recently, Donaldson has faced a fresh wave of legal trouble in his home state of North Carolina, according to a recent story published in New York magazine. The outlet reports that a former employee has filed a wrongful termination suit against another of Donaldson’s companies, claiming that she was fired from her social media manager job after years of discrimination and sexual harassment—allegations a company spokesperson dismissed as “categorically false.”
Neither Donaldson nor his company’s Canadian legal team responded to Toronto Life’s requests for comment. MHQ’s CEO, Robert Cohen, declined to comment.
