“‘Squid Game’ Reality Show Disaster”…Participants reportedly sue the production companies

Contestants of a reality show based on Netflix’s popular drama “Squid Game”, which gained huge popularity around the world, will sue the production companies.

The reality show “Squid Game: The Challenge” at Cardington Studios in Bedfordshire, England is a program in which 456 people from all over the world compete for a $4.56 million prize (about 5.63 billion won). It attracts a lot of attention as it is called the live-action version of “Squid Game”.

However, controversy arose as contestants had to shiver for a long time in the cold, food was not provided enough and many people got injured.

On Feb 3rd (local time), Rolling Stone reported that game players are considering suing Studio Lambert and The Garden for workplace safety violations, negligence and false pretenses.

One participant said, “All the torment and trauma we experienced wasn’t due to the game or the rigor of the game. It was the incompetencies of scale.”

According to Rolling Stone, the freezing conditions resulted in at least 10 people collapsing during the game, with medics being screamed for as people fell and convulsed on the ground.

Variety also published an article titled “Inside Netflix’s ‘Squid Game’ Reality Show Disaster: ‘The Conditions Were Absolutely Inhumane'” on Feb 4th.

Variety reported, “Contestants — who weren’t paid to participate in the series — say they were told the actual game would take roughly two hours to play and shoot, but instead that turned into an almost seven-hour ordeal for some contenders.”

One participant told Variety, “If they had told us it was going to be that cold, no one would have gone through with it.”

In response, Netflix, Studio Lambert and The Garden issued the following statement to IndieWire, “We care deeply about the health of our cast and crew, and the quality of this show. Any suggestion that the competition is rigged or claims of serious harm to players are simply untrue. We’ve taken all the appropriate safety precautions, including after care for contestants – and an independent adjudicator is overseeing each game to ensure it’s fair to everyone.”

Source: Indie Wire