“Squid Game” Director Claims He Did Not Think T.O.P’s Marijuana Scandal Would Be An Issue
The director of Squid Game, Hwang Dong Hyuk, recently addressed his controversial casting of T.O.P. T.O.P is known for his use of drugs, specifically, marijuana. Hwang had thought that since six to seven years have passed since he was last active, it would be fine to cast him.
Up until the press conference, I didn’t realize T.O.P hadn’t been forgiven to this extent. When I cast him, I researched the history of celebrities who had resumed their careers after drug scandals, going back to the Park Chung Hee administration. At that time, there were crackdowns on marijuana use, and many were allowed to return to the industry after about four years. Given that it’s been six to seven years for Seung Hyun, I thought enough time had passed for people to accept him. However, I was surprised by the backlash.
After seeing the controversies and his comments about not making a comeback in Korea, I realized, ‘This is a bigger issue than I thought.’ But personally, I couldn’t just say, ‘You can’t be part of this because you haven’t been forgiven.’ I wanted to work with him to create something that could show whether he could earn forgiveness. In the end, it’s up to the public to decide if they’ll accept him again after seeing his work.
— Hwang Dong Hyuk
In another interview, he repeated that he did not know it would be this bad. His specific reason was that overseas, marijuana is considered legal in many countries. As Squid Game drew much attention in international waters, Hwang thought that the casting would bring up no issues.
I did not know that he would be unforgiven to this extent. I heard many people bring up the issue of casting. I thought that such opinions would only be raised in Korea, and I thought that internationally, this would not be a problem as marijuana is legal in many countries overseas.
— Hwang Dong Hyuk
You can read more about his interviews regarding T.O.P’s casting below.
“Squid Game” Director Addresses Complaints About T.O.P’s Casting
