Model and internet personality Chrissy Teigen reenacts the hit show – which depicts the unfairness of capitalist societies – in her, err, $17.5 million mansion
Over the weekend, American model and internet personality Chrissy Teigen and her husband John Legend invited numerous celebrity guests over to their $17.5 million Beverly Hills mansion to reenact the hit Netflix series Squid Game.
“Where do I even begin!! What an absolutely epic night. My dream came true of watching my friends fight to the death!” wrote Chrissy on Instagram, mentioning that the event included a dunk tank, musical chairs, hide and seek, and pin the tail on the donkey. The corresponding photo series showed Teigen’s house completely redecorated as the show’s sets, while Chrissy sat on the toilet and scrolled on her phone dressed as the “Red Light, Green Light” robot, friends competed in green tracksuits, and workers served drinks while wearing the black-masked guards costumes.
At the end of the night, it seems that one winner received a giant cheque with “flights to Napa and dinner at French Laundry for two” written on it, while confetti blasted the guests. What a great way to spend your multi-millions!
In case you haven’t seen the South Korean horrorshow, Squid Game follows a group of debt-ridden citizens as they compete in a Hunger Games-style competition for a big cash prize. The series spotlights the inherent inequality in capitalist systems as the game players compete for money in life or death scenarios to stay afloat in life, while the champagne-sipping wealthy class bet on players’ lives for fun.
With this in mind, Teigen has faced a lot of criticism since posting about the night. “This is so beyond tone deaf as a millionaire to invite your rich friends over and reenact Squid Games which (is) rooted in the violence of capitalism,” one commenter wrote on Instagram, explaining that it would help if the cheque went to charity in the end. “I’m getting rich white men watching the glass bridge episode vibes,” said another.
This isn’t the first time Teigen has received backlash for her actions. In 2020, the model forced her live-in nurse to dress up like a plague doctor for Halloween, and later, people noted that Teigen’s house seems to be modeled after 2019’s Oscars Best Picture winner, Parasite (which follows a resentful household staff who scam and murder a wealthy Korean family). Noticing a theme here?
Thankfully, Squid Game seems to also be inspiring some positive change – on October 20, tens of thousands of workers took to South Korea’s streets dressed as the show’s guards in demand of better working conditions.
This past week, the show’s director, Hwang Dong-hyuk, confirmed that season two is in the works. “There’s been so much pressure, so much demand, and so much love for a second season,” he told AP Entertainment. “So I almost feel like you leave us no choice!”