Squid Game: The Challenge premiered on Netflix this week, Wednesday, November 22, and the show is already surrounded by controversy and criticism.
According to Deadline, at least two of the 456 contestants have threatened to sue Netflix and co-producers Studio Lambert over alleged injuries suffered during the making of the reality competition series.
Express Solicitors, a personal injury firm based out of the U.K., is representing two unnamed players who claim to have suffered hypothermia and nerve damage due to the cold conditions while shooting the show.
Squid Game: The Challenge (Credit: Pete Dadds/Netflix)
The series, based on the hit Korean drama Squid Game, was filmed in the U.K. back in January across two studios, Cardington Studios in Bedford and six sound stages in Barking, London. At the time, reports emerged that ambulances had been called to the studios to treat real-life injuries sustained while filming.
“We have sent letters of claim on behalf of contestants injured in this show. From what we’ve been told [the producers] pushed the boundaries of safety in the name of entertainment,” Daniel Slade, Chief Executive Officer (Legal) at Express Solicitors, said in a statement, per TVLine.
Slade also told the U.K.’s Sun newspaper, “Contestants thought they were taking part in something fun and those injured did not expect to suffer as they did. Now they have been left with injuries after spending time being stuck in painful stress positions in cold temperatures.”
The injuries were said to have happened during the first competition, the game “Red Light, Green Light,” which was seen in the scripted version of the show. In the game, players must freeze in position when the light turns red; those who move are eliminated. The shoot allegedly took “hours” to shoot and happened during freezing temperatures.
At the time of filming, Netflix did confirm that three of the 456 contestants received medical attention during the filming of “Red Light, Green Light.”
Squid Game: The Challenge executive producer John Hay recently told The Hollywood Reporter, “Welfare and safety are obviously paramount for us. And we’ve taken appropriate measures to look after people… [Red Light, Green Light] was a big, complicated shoot, and it was a cold day, and it took quite a long time. But everyone was prepared for that and looked after properly.”
In addition, a spokesperson for Squid Game: The Challenge told TVLine, “No lawsuit has been filed by any of the Squid Game contestants. We take the welfare of our contestants extremely seriously.”
Squid Game: The Challenge, Season 1, Streaming now, Netflix