YouTube star paid someone $340,000 to live in windowless room for three weeks

YouTuber Mr. Beast challenged a man to stay 100 days in a single room - and paid him $10,000 for every day he managed.

Now the man who completed the challenge has since come out and defended the content creator against multiple accusations it was damaging to his mental health.

Josh Rock, who according to his Instagram and LinkedIn bios is the lead video editor for the MrBeast YouTube channel, says he earned $340,000 for staying in the room for 21 days.

Responding to the backlash he said, "I was never in any danger, physically or mentally."

The challenge in which Rock took part in was featured in a video titled "$10,000 every day you survive in prison." It has been viewed more than 38 million times.

$10,000 Every Day You Survive Prisonwww.youtube.com

In the video, it showed Rock in a large windowless room that was stocked with entertainment items like a guitar, pool table, and hot tub. But as the days went by, he had to discard slowly as he earned another $10,000 throughout the challenge.

According to the video, Rock was able to have visitors and was visited by MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson. Others also visited Rock such as his girlfriend.

Although this was meant to be a simulation similar to what prison would feel like, it seemed as though Rock had intermittent access to private chefs and professional cleaners. There was also a button he could press at any time to exit and end the challenge.

While in the room, he was able to earn extra money by completing additional tasks. This made his total of earnings climb to an extra $130,000.

TikTok user Charles Peralo posted a video saying Mr Beast's video was receiving backlash for "endangering" Rock's mental health.

Peralo said the room he used "was definitely not a bad place to be but people are still angry with MrBeast because they said he put the man through solitary confinement." In the end, Peralo suggests the criticism was too harsh and "people just need to learn to relax."

Rock has since responded to Peralo and said, "I'm actually the contestant from that video and I can assure you that they had people watching over me 24/7, making sure that I was never in any danger, physically or mentally. They had everything taken care of. It was a great opportunity for me. Everyone needs to relax a little bit."

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