Steven Spielberg Under Fire For ‘Ignorant’ ‘Squid Game’ Comments

Director Steven Spielberg has created a wave of fan backlash online for cringey comments that he made about the popular Netflix hit “Squid Game.”

Although the Korean drama has taken the world by storm, the “West Side Story” director made some recent comments that upset a lot of fans.

While he was at the Producers Guild of America Awards panel over the weekend, the 75-year-old director praised the streaming giant for including “unknown actors” in their successful projects.

“A long time ago, it was domestic stars that brought the audience into movies,” Spielberg said. “Today, it’s interesting, unknown people can star [in] entire miniseries, can be in movies.”

“‘Squid Game’ comes along and changes the math entirely for all of us,” he added before saying, “Thank you, Ted.” Ted Sarandos is the Netflix co-CEO and chief content officer.

His comments were quick to draw criticism from fans, who pointed out that the show’s star, Lee Jung-jae, has starred in many Korean TV series and films throughout the years and is even taking his turn in the director’s chair. Park Hae-soo is another accomplished actor who has appeared in several successful Korean TV dramas.

“Americans always think the world doesn’t exist outside of America. They think everyone worships us when in reality they laugh at us,” one fan tweeted. “Actors, singers, politicians, scientists, doctors, lawyers, CEOs all exist in other countries. Stop being so ignorant.”

“Correction: ‘Squid Game’ proves that Hollywood has been waaayyyyyy behind in recognizing and celebrating longstanding S. Korean Film/TV storytelling and talent,” another tweeted.

“I watched a Korean film (Shiri) for the 1st time back in 1999 in the US. In its cast: Song Kang-ho, an actor so good I'll watch a movie just because he's in it,” another shared. “I wonder even if, after ‘Parasite’, many Westerners who viewed it can appreciate that about him and other Korean stars.”

“Argggg more ethnocentrism courtesy of Americans who can't see past their own borders,” another shared. “What series like Squid Game illustrate is exactly the opposite: that people around the world are satisfied with content other than English/white/US entertainment.”

“It's always the same story... Probably next we'll have some American entertainment authority saying that Shah Rukh Khan is unknown or something,” another shared.

Spielberg’s insensitive comments drew comparisons to how Westerners don’t seem to be aware of international talent.

One fan tweeted, “Another painful western-centric interview with Korean film royalty Youn Yuh-jung whose stunning career spans over 5 decades but gets defined in the US by her 'Oscar success' like some rando who just won the lottery.”

“What's the difference between ‘western’ (which I suppose entails having a western outlook, but surely can't be objectionable) and ‘western-centric’ which appears to problematic?” one fan asked.

“’western-centric’ refers to how westerners (mostly Americans) think the west (mostly the us) is the center of the world and specifically in the entertainment industry it’s how ppl see western success as the only ‘true success’,” another explained.

“like in this interview or when they asked lee jungjae, one of the biggest actors in Korea who’s been active since the 90’s, how it feels to have people recognize him on the streets after squid game,” they continued. “Basically they act as if other industries don’t have value.”

It remains to be seen if Spielberg will apologize for his comments.