Lydia Ellery is losing work due to her online handle, and you can probably guess why.
Ellery has been using ‘SquidGame’ as a moniker for over a decade on YouTube. Unfortunately for her brand, though, a little Netflix show you might’ve heard of called Squid Game exploded in popularity last month, which is causing Ellery lots of grief. First, Ellery’s Instagram account got banned because people were reporting it, believing she stole the name from the show.
“I started getting abusive messages from people. People were getting angry with me because they were mega fans and thought I took the account from the show,” Ellery said via BBC. “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.”
Then on Wednesday, Ellery claimed the whole mess is mucking up her professional endeavors too.
“Looks like I might have to change my handle after all,” Ellery said on Twitter. “I’ve lost two amazing presenting opportunities because people don’t want to hire me with my handle. This is really getting me down now.”
Lots of lovely people suggesting complaining etc, but who do I even talk to about this? Who would I email? I have literally no idea whatsoever 😅
— Lydia (@SquidGaming) November 2, 2021
It’s a tough situation for Ellery. Squid Game is a cultural phenomenon and already one of Netflix’s biggest shows ever, right up there with The Witcher. So even though ‘SquidGame’ has been Ellery’s brand for a decade, the impact of the Netflix series might be too significant to ignore.
Netflix also announced games were coming to its mobile app this week. No squids in those games, thankfully.
Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.
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