NEW YORK — YouTube’s biggest star, MrBeast, is facing complaints about the safety of contestants from the preliminary round of his ambitious “Beast Games” game show, which boasts 1,000 competitors hoping for a $5 million grand prize.

Some contestants complained online and to other YouTube influencers that they lacked regular access to food, water and medication during early production at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, and that some competitors were injured during the production.

A spokesperson for MrBeast said his team is reviewing the process and soliciting attendees’ feedback ahead of the next phase of production in Toronto.

The stakes for “Beast Games” aren’t just high for the contestants, but for MrBeast (real name, Jimmy Donaldson) himself, as well as the recipients of his brand of “stunt philanthropy” that often entails direct gifts of cash or even houses.

The complaints about the “Beast Games” production coincide with Donaldson’s acknowledgment last week that he used racial and homophobic slurs years ago in recordings he made as a teenager.

The show, which has already been picked up by Amazon Prime Video to air in 240 countries, is part of Donaldson’s cultural expansion beyond YouTube — where his channel has 307 million subscribers, including countless young consumers who already purchase his Feastables line of candy or the burgers that bear his name.

“My goal is to make the greatest show possible and prove YouTubers and creators can succeed on other platforms,” Donaldson said in a March news release from Amazon.

Donaldson’s companies cast 2,000 people to take part in an initial tryout of sorts in July at Allegiant Stadium, with 1,000 of them presumably advancing to the actual show. Amazon Prime Video was not involved and did not respond to a request for comment.

A MrBeast spokesperson said Friday that the promotional video shoot was “unfortunately complicated” by extreme weather, the widespread CrowdStrike outage that wreaked global havoc and “other unexpected logistical and communications issues.”

We “have taken steps to ensure that we learn from this experience, and we are excited to welcome hundreds of men and women to the world’s largest game show in history,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

MrBeast offered eliminated contestants $1,000 upon leaving the competition, and the spokesperson said most of those who remain in contention are ready to keep going.

Some contestants expected challenges similar to those from the dystopian Netflix show “Squid Game,” a fictional series — and eventual reality game show — in which deeply indebted people compete for millions in high-stakes children’s games.

The Associated Press reached out to several contestants about “Beast Games,” but most either did not respond or declined to speak on the record because they had signed nondisclosure agreements.

Scott Leopold, 53, a father from Austin, Texas, said he thought he was competing in the actual “Beast Games,” not a precursor to the show. He said he felt deceived about his chances of winning and that the competition in Las Vegas would not stream on Amazon Prime Video.

He said Donaldson should not be “villainized,” but “an apology would go a long way.”

“All I can conclude is that he was in over his head,” Leopold said. “There were too many people, and I don’t think he knew how to handle the situation.”

Nancy Libby, a Navy veteran from California who said she was one of the last people eliminated, said she had watched previous MrBeast challenges and on-set conditions met her expectations.

Libby said “crowd control” was an issue at times and more staffing could help ensure competitors do not injure their counterparts. But Libby said the MrBeast team appeared to take safety seriously and she only witnessed rude behavior from outside contractors.

“Sometimes when you run things that are first of their kind, things come up that you can’t foresee,” Libby said. “I think that the template was there for a really good competition.”

MrBeast previously had some contentious relationships with its contractors. One of Donaldson’s companies sued and then was countersued by a vendor they worked with on the “MrBeast Burger” that got widely panned.