MrBeast Squid Game Remake Blasted Over ‘Controversial’ Insensitivity

YouTuber MrBeast has received backlash over his real-life remake of Squid Game. 

In a TikTok post on October 11, MrBeast promised followers that if his video received 10 million likes he would remake the games featured in Netflix’s biggest-ever series launch.

Upon reaching the required amount of likes, the 23-year-old spent over $3.5 million recreating every round of Squid Game, which in the series, are played in a fight-to-the-death by broke Koreans to win 45.6 billion Won ($38.6m).

However, much like Chrissy Teigen, who was slammed for her ‘tone deaf’ Squid Game party, MrBeast, real name Jimmy Donaldson, has caused similar controversy in response to the 25-minute video of his remake of the games.

Donaldson’s version of the game featured 456 contestants, battling for the cash sum of $456,000, National News reports. Of course, unlike the series, the contestants did not have to fight to the death.

Donaldson, alongside mobile gaming company Brawl Stars, recreated each round of the games featured in the Netflix series. The event reportedly featured $1.5 million in prizes, and cost $2 million to recreate the show’s set and to produce.

Instead of contestants potentially coming to any harm, rounds such as the Glass Bridge game had foam pits placed beneath the walkway to prevent any injuries from occurring.

Although, to recreate the show as accurately and vividly as possible, dye packs were put on the contestant’s tracksuits to mimic the effects of being shot and subsequently eliminated.

Donaldson posted updates of his recreation of the games via his Twitter. On Wednesday, November 24, the YouTuber announced that the video of the ‘real life Squid Game‘ went live.

Within 60 minutes of its release, the video had gained over five million views.

Donaldson wrote:

THANK YOU FOR BEING SO NICE AND SUPPORTIVE OF THE NEW VIDEO! THE YOUTUBE COMMUNITY IS FREAKEN AMAZING AND I LOVE ALL OF YOU.

The video has received over 28 million views and is number one in trending on YouTube, at the time of writing.

However, despite Donaldson’s excitement over the real-life recreation of the games, some other users didn’t find it as amusing given the underlying true meaning of the series and its impoverished contestants, with household debt in South Korea rising massively in recent years and a widening income gap.

One viewer wrote: ‘Sad to see people playing this sh*t in real life and they don’t know what is the hidden messages of squid sh*t.’

Another said:

I will say, I don’t hate MrBeast or care what he does, but the irony of spending all of this money to mimic a show where the message was about money just speaks volumes.

A third commented: ‘I don’t think you understood the point of Squid Game James.’

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