Squid Game: The Challenge Players Mull Lawsuit After Allegedly Suffering 'Hypothermia And Nerve Damage'

By Matt Webb Mitovich
Squid Game: The Challenge Courtesy of Pete Dadds/Netflix

At least a couple of the 456 contestants in Squid Game: The Challenge have taken a first step toward filing a lawsuit against the Netflix reality competition, alleging that they "suffered injuries such as hypothermia and nerve damage as a result of poor health and safety standards on set."

Daniel Slade, Chief Executive Officer (Legal) at Express Solicitors (a personal injury firm based out of the UK), said in a statement that Squid Game: The Challenge players — two so far, by one account — have asked for help seeking compensation for injuries they allegedly suffered during the show's filming in January of this year.

"We have sent letters of claim on behalf of contestants injured in this show," Slade said. "From what we've been told [the producers] pushed the boundaries of safety in the name of entertainment."

A spokesperson for Squid Game: The Challenge told TVLine in a statement, "No lawsuit has been filed by any of the Squid Game contestants. We take the welfare of our contestants extremely seriously."

The two players' pending claim seems to stem from primarily the first round of competition, "Red Light, Green Light," which appears to take place over five minutes or so, but in actuality took "hours" to shoot, and in temperatures so cold they allegedly turned one player's hands "purple."

"Contestants thought they were taking part in something fun and those injured did not expect to suffer as they did," Slade told the UK's Sun. "Now they have been left with injuries after spending time being stuck in painful stress positions in cold temperatures."

Squid Game: The Challenge executive producer John Hay recently told our sister site THR.com, "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." 

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