Netflix will edit some scenes in the smash hit show “Squid Game” after a South Korean woman said she has been deluged with thousands of prank calls and text messages since the series broadcast her phone number onscreen.
Kim Gil-young who owns a business in the southeastern county of Seongju told local broadcaster SBS last month that she has received thousands of messages and phone calls from people asking to join the Squid Game and go ‘from rags to riches.’
Gil-young told told CNN Thursday she has been using the number for 16 years.
Gil-young said she has been using the phone number featured in the show for more than 10 years, and last week, she told Money Today that she had received thousands of calls and text messages since the show debuted.
“Since the airing of Squid Game, I received so many texts and calls 24 hours a day that my life has become difficult,” she said. “I have deleted more than 4,000 phone numbers until recently.
“My cellphone battery gets drained in half a day due to curious calls day and night without any concept of time,” she said, with one reportedly telling her he has a debt of 1.2 billion won – equivalent to $1 million – and wants to participate in the Squid Games, according to the Manila Bulletin.
“I have been using this number for more than 10 years, so I am quite taken aback,” she told one local outlet. She also said she could not change her number due to client contracts which are vital to her livelihood.
“To the director of the show — please reach out to me. This is so upsetting,” Gil-young added, according to the Korean Herald.
Netflix and production company Siren Pictures previously said they deliberately only showed the final eight numbers of the phone number, and were unaware that when dialed, the prefix would automatically be added, according to Reuters.
They also reportedly offered Gil-young a 5 million won compensation, equivalent to about $4,100, which she declined.
But on Wednesday, Netflix said in a statement: “Together with the production company, we are working to resolve this matter, including editing scenes with phone numbers where necessary.”
The show tells the story of a game in which contestants who are deeply in debt play children’s games in order to win a massive cash prize. The downside is that losers will be killed.
Despite arriving on the streaming service with virtually no fanfare, “Squid Game” has become what Netflix is billing as possibly its “biggest show ever.”
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