Chrissy Teigen’s Squid Game-themed celebrity party isn’t sitting well with fans. The TV personality has found herself at the center of controversy after she hosted a party with fellow A-list celebs, including Shay Mitchell and Jesse Tyler Ferguson, at her home over the weekend themed around the hit South Korean Netflix original series, a theme that now has fans accusing her of being “tone deaf.”
For the party, Teigen enlisted the help of party planners Wife of the Party to transform her California home to mirror the set of the show, complete with including the maze staircase, bunk beds, and oversized money-stuffed piggy bank, PEOPLE confirmed. Party goers even got to take part in their own version of Squid Game, with Teigen sharing on social media that they played with a dunk tank, musical chairs, hide and seek, and even “a very riveting final game of pin the tail on the donkey,” with one person even walking away with a cash prize. Attendees also dressed like the characters, with Teigen dressing as the “red light, green light” doll as her husband, John Legend, dressed as a VIP. Servers at the event, meanwhile, dressed up like Squid Game’s guards.
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While attendees seemed to enjoy their time at the party, many fans on social media felt the theme was completely “tone deaf” given the premise of the show. Debuting on Netflix back in September, Squid Game is centered around a group of debt-ridden people who are invited to play a series of deadly children’s games with the slim chance – we’re talking one out of 456 – that they’ll take home the prize money totaling just over $40 million, with each $1 million equivalent to one life lost in the games, which are put on for the enjoyment of the ultra-wealthy. Keep scrolling to see some of the backlash online.
‘So tone-deaf’
“I’m sorry rich people are literally so tone-deaf,” one person commented on Teigen’s post. “Squid Game was literally about people whose lives were so awful because of being poor that they’d rather play a game of literal life or death to escape going back to poverty and Chrissy Teigen is really reenacting it in her mansion.”
‘Completely missed the point’
“Usually I’m a fan of Chrissy Teigen,” wrote another, who went on to add, “but there’s something super f-ed up and weird about spending the weekend cosplaying Squid Game with your incredibly rich friends.”
‘Unmatched irony’
“Rich people dressing up as characters from Squid Game… way to miss the point of the show,” commented somebody else. “Super tone deaf.”
‘Taking personal offense’
“Taking personal offense at the complete lack of self awareness Chrissy Teigen must have in order to throw a Squid Game-themed party where she watches her rich friends ‘fight to the death,’” tweeted another. “The commentary just writes itself…”
Could be a ‘Squid Game’ Season 2 plot
“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,” wrote another person on Teigen’s post.
Teigen didn’t get the message
“Yknow what, I’m tired of being self aware and trying to live a judgment free life. I wish to be as ignorant as Chrissy Teigen hosting a Squid Game party with her rich LA friends,” added somebody else. “I didn’t watch the show but I’m pretty sure ‘those games look so fun!’ wasn’t supposed to be the takeaway.”
‘Complete lack of self-awareness’
“This is more Squid Game than Squid Game is Squid Game,” one person wrote under Teigen’s post, which others called “cringe.” Several more criticized Teigen or her “complete lack of self-awareness.”
