CrowdStrike's global IT outage paralyzed approximately 8.5 million Windows computers, grounded flights, affected hospitals, banks, etc., and has now apparently become the scapegoat for the harsh conditions on the set of the popular YouTuber MrBeast (aka Jimmy Donaldson)'s reality game show competition, which has a prize of up to $5 million.
The New York Times reported that when 2,000 contestants arrived at Allegiant Stadium in July, they barely had food to eat, and did not receive prescription medications or clean underwear on time - even though the organizers provided them themselves. (The 1,000 players who successfully advance can return to Amazon to participate in the "BeastGames" show, but this part of the content is prepared for Donaldson's YouTube channel).
The New York Times report interviewed more than a dozen contestants who said they were mistreated by organizers, such as this:
One contestant said she was initially deprived of the food she needed to take her medication, with staff telling her she didn't need to eat. After repeated questioning, the staff gave her half a banana.
But MrBeast didn't apologize, at least not yet. Instead, The New York Times received a text message from a MrBeast spokesperson that blamed external factors, including CrowdStrike, rather than its poor planning:
"Unfortunately, the CrowdStrike incident, extreme weather, and other unexpected logistical and communications issues complicated this shoot," a spokesperson for "MrBeast" said in a text message. The spokesman said MrBeast had begun a formal review and was "taking steps to ensure we learn from this experience".
Of course, this is just the latest event to lure fans to a location without adequate logistical support, with previous reality shows surrounding Netflix's Squid Game and, of course, Philly Music being criticized.
It's also not the first time Mr. Monster has used an anonymous spokesperson to deal with negative press in recent days: Earlier this week, he asked an anonymous spokesperson to apologize to the Associated Press for his younger self.