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Squid Game is Making One Twitch Streamer Lose Work


A Twitch streamer who shares her online name with Netflix's popular South Korean hit Squid Game says she is losing work because of it.

32-year-old gamer Lydia ‘SquidGame’ Ellery said that companies are now hesitant to employ her because of her online handle and her perceived association with the Netflix series, despite the fact that "SquidGame" is the username and brand she’s built for the past decade. Ellery said she has also been subjected to online abuse by fans of the k-drama.

Squid Game Twitch streamer
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Credit: Netflix / Squidgamer on Twitch
Squid Game Twitch streamer

As the BBC reported, Ellery, who lives in Bristol, said that because her username —”SquidGame” on Instagram, Twitch, and YouTube; “SquidGaming” on Twitter—is the same as the title of the hit series, she's been "flooded" with toxic messages.

“I started getting abusive messages from people,” Ellery told the outlet. “People were getting angry with me because they were mega fans...and thought I took the account from the show. I had to turn off notifications on my Instagram because it was just constant. My phone has been flooded.”

Ellery has 42,300 followers on Twitch and is also part of Yogscast, a collective with more than seven million YouTube subscribers, but now, she's considering changing her name because of its association with the show and her loss of income.

"I've received a lot of hate from the fans and I've been turned down for work because of it [the name]," Ellery told BBC.

"For me it was just a silly name I thought up on the spot," she added. "My friends called me squid because it rhymes with lid, and my name is Lydia."

Due to her association with the Netflix show, people have also tried hacking her accounts. The Twitch streamer has been kicked out of her accounts several times and has been asked to reset her password.

"People were reporting my account and endless people have tried to hack into my account, I keep getting emails from people trying to log in. It's been really frustrating," she said.

"My SEO [search engine optimisation] is completely messed up now," Ellery said. "If you search for me and my brand which I've had for over 10 years... all you get is the TV show. More recently I've been turned down for work because of my handle."

Ellery also told BBC that her presenting and advertising work have also suffered, not just her live-streaming.

Related: Lee Byung-Hun, Squid Game Actor, Wins US Entertainment Award

"The companies who were giving me this recent role specifically told me I didn't get the work because of my Squid Game handle," she explained.

Netflix hasn't announced any plans for Squid Game Season 2 yet, but you check out our compilation of details for the possible sequel here.

For more articles like this, take a look at our Kdrama, Netflix, Gaming, and Geek Culture pages.