when Netflix Announce it reality Game show Squid game: the challengeimmediately angered the fans who sat through the quirky South Korean original excitementabout a group of poor people recruited to compete in a series of deadly games for millions in prize money, he asked: How well could this end?
However, the ambitious competition managed to find 456 contestants willing to vie for the $4.56 million prize – winning the show. bragging Boasting the biggest cast and prize money in television history. But the first day of filming barely ended last Monday when reports began pouring in about how the show’s production was a complete disaster.
One former contestant said, “It was the most grueling, toughest thing I’ve ever been through in my life.” Rolling Stone. “We were a human horse race, and they treated us like horses in the cold race and [the race] it hase been repaired “.
Another former player adds: “All the agony and trauma we experienced was not due to the game or the rigor of the game.” “It was due to an inefficiency of size — they bit off more than they could chew.”
Four former players detailed their experiences to rolling Stone, Confirm previous reports That contestants were forced to play the show’s “red light, green light” game in inhumane conditions, and spent up to nine hours inside a freezing airport hangar, unable to move for 30 minutes, with medics scrambling to tend to people unable to stand the freezing cold. . All have requested that their names be withheld, citing their non-disclosure agreements.
Netflix It had previously said in a statement that three had sought medical attention for minor conditions, but had defended the safety of the production, saying they had “invested all appropriate safety measures. While it was very cold in the venue – and the participants were prepared for it – any claims of serious injury are untrue.” (The broadcaster referred us to their previous statement when reached for comment.)
But sources claim that Netflix and the show’s co-production studios, Studio Lambert and The Garden, downplayed the seriousness of Hell’s Day. Additionally, they believe the news coverage missed a key point in their complaint: that the game appeared to be rigged to begin with. (Studio Lambert did not respond to a request for comment; The Garden directed our request to Netflix.)
Former players claim that some of the contestants — many of whom were TikTok and Instagram influencers — were pre-selected to advance to the next round regardless of the outcome of the first match, and were just as excited while the majority of the eliminated contestants had dummy microphones around their necks. One former player claims the rules are intent on furthering the contestant’s story, and another says they’ve witnessed an eliminated player being brought back into the game.
“It wasn’t really a game show. It was a TV show, and we were basically extras on a TV show,” someone explains.
Three former players describe what runners now call the “38-second carnage,” when a large group of runners made it across the finish line with time still on the clock, meaning they made it to the next round. However, as they waited for the producers to review the footage and get drone footage from the round, their blood packets disappeared minutes later, and they were told they had been eliminated, despite crossing the finish line. “They just went crazy,” one contestant recalled.
Two of the contestants said that when their original flight arrived in London, their return tickets were already booked. It just so happened that their flights were scheduled right after they ended up being eliminated. “instead of Squid gameAnd [they] They call it the “rigged game”. Instead of Netflix, they call it the ‘Net Fix’ because it was just plain clear,” adds one former gamer.
Filming on the reality competition series began last Monday, with players being woken up in the early morning hours and bussed from a London hotel about two hours away to Cardington Airport, a former Royal Air Force base. It was an unexpectedly cold day, and in the large metal barn with concrete floors, one source says it felt close to 14 degrees Fahrenheit (-10 degrees Celsius).
A scene from the first season of the Netflix series “Squid Game”.
Netflix
Although the staff was wearing two layers of heat, two pairs of socks, plus Squid game A tracksuit, the contestants claim, was not appropriate clothing to keep them warm. (Sources say hand and foot warmers given out to players were withdrawn before the game began.)
Producers allegedly said the game was only meant to last two hours, but previous players said they were on standby for up to nine hours, unable to move for 30 minutes, with some losing feeling in their hands and feet. Their only relief came in the form of a roughly seven-second stretch when they scrambled to near the finish line — only to freeze in place and wait another 30 minutes as the producers took drone footage, reviewed the footage and decided who was eliminated.
“I’m shivering and I’m talking about like, ‘I’m on top of Mount Everest, and I don’t have anything to shiver,'” one recalled.
Sources say the freeze led to at least 10 people collapsing during the match, as yells were made for paramedics as people fell and convulsed to the ground. Someone claims that the doctors took so long to get to the players because the producers were worried about ruining the camera footage. As a solution, masked people in pink jumpsuits were dispatched to the floor with black coffins and positioned themselves to block paramedics who attended to the fallen player – all while the rest of the contestants remained frozen in place.
With a life-changing amount of money on the line, former contestants say they felt trapped — fearing that if they moved in to help, they’d be out of the game. “People were beating themselves up, myself included, about the fact that you had girl tics and we all just stood there like statues. On what planet is that even human?” one former contestant asks. “Obviously you’re going to jump in and help — that’s human nature for most of us. But it’s definitely a social experiment. It’s toyed with our morals and it’s sick. It’s very sick.”
Another adds: “There’s $4.5 million up for grabs, and if you move, you’ll be out.” “I noticed that a lot of people had this idea that they were going to change their family’s lives. Those people were willing to die. Someone says, ‘I’m going home with this, I don’t care what it takes.’ I think the producers wanted that. They wanted people not to think about it.” their health, and not worry about their safety.”
One player said he had a herniated disc and a torn knee tendon. “My legs were completely numb,” he explained, adding that when trying to get to the bathroom after he was eliminated from the match, he fell as he climbed the stairs because he couldn’t feel his feet and legs. Another player says she got pneumonia and an ear infection, and two other players were coughing during their conversations with him. Rolling Stonesaying that they also caught a cold after competing.
Besides the harsh conditions, former contestants claim to have witnessed clear signs of players being pre-selected to advance to the next round. One said they only observed players whose mic was fully raised being taken away for filming before the game started, and cameras were following them as they mingled with other mic players. Two said they saw some contestants visibly move when they were supposed to be immobilized, but were not eliminated. Someone claims they saw an eliminated contestant, only to be added back into the game.
Another says she was eliminated when there were five seconds left on the clock at the end of the grueling nine hours. But while she was waiting to be escorted off the set, she said she noticed cameras pointing at a contestant who was playing with his mom. “This kid is sitting at the finish line, he’s crying, and the cameras are on him as he waits for his mom,” they added [more time] On the clock to pass because she was one of the people who wanted to be on the show.”
Two former contestants asserted that some players, including themselves, were seeking legal advice to see if there were grounds to sue production studios for workplace safety violations, negligence, and false claims. (Co-producer Studio Lambert, behind popular reality shows like CircleAnd Naked Attraction And traitorsshe has They have previously faced allegations of making employees work in “inhumane” conditions.. UK staff Cokeley Fund They claimed in 2021 that they worked painfully long hours and were forced to go without breaks.)
In response to the taunts that showrunners should have known better when signing up for a game based on a killer TV series, the former players said they were reassured every step of the way that the show would be safe, fun, and most importantly, fair. An opportunity to earn a life-changing amount of money. “It’s not like we signed up Naked and scared or survivorwhere you’ll eat ants and it’ll be bleak—that wasn’t the game,” one asserts.
The funny thing is, “Show another contestant,” Equality and fairness were the main theme of the original version Squid game. ”