After prominently including a real phone number in the show, Netflix has announced they will edit parts of their hit Korean drama in order to protect the privacy of the number’s owner.Now removed from the show in other territories, the phone number is featured in the first episode of the series and, at the time of writing, remains in the episode on Netflix Australia.It’s on a business card handed over to the lead character, Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-Jae), from a mysterious man in the subway station. That’s how Gi-hun gets his invite to the Game. Curious about the number, viewers have called asking to play.But since the number belongs to an actual person who is unrelated to Netflix, the streaming giant has decided to take measures in protecting their identity: “Together with the production company, we are working to resolve this matter, including editing scenes with phone numbers where necessary,” Netflix told The Independent.The real-life owner of the phone told Korean publication Money Today that he had been receiving “endless” calls and text messages since the show’s release on September 17.“It has come to the point where people are reaching out day and night due to their curiosity. It drains my phone’s battery and it turns off,” the man, who is from the Gyeonggi province of South Korea, said. “At first, I didn’t know why, then my friend told me that my number came out [in the series].”The man says he’s currently receiving around 4000 calls a day thanks to Netflix’s blunder. After the first appearance in the show, the number returns across a handful of quick shots of the Game’s business card.This isn’t the first instance of backlash Netflix’s Squid Game has received. Thanks to its explosive popularity, last week, a Korean internet service provider announced they were suing Netflix for clogging up the internet with traffic. The show, which follows a handful of strangers competing in children’s games to the death for a massive cash prize, has seen an outpouring in viewership. It’s currently on track to overtake Bridgerton as Netflix’s most popular show of all time.This article originally appeared on Decider and was republished with permission
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