Netflix responds to allegations of When Life Gives You Tangerines' extras being subjected to starvation and mistreatment

The buzz for much-beloved K-drama When Life Gives You Tangerines has returned, but not with fanfare this time round.

On May 26, crew who allegedly worked on the set made claims on X about the damage on rented props and cars. Extras who acted in the drama subsequently came forth with their own claims of abuse and mistreatment.

One prop-rental company claimed that the production team used lacquer to stencil a rented bus.

The X user said: "Since the production crew didn't have the ability to handle the retro buses or large vehicles that we rented or built for them, they ended up damaging them even though we stationed our staff on site for the sole purpose of operating the vehicles (though they were really just there to monitor the production crew). The reasons for damage were mostly due to 'ignorance' or 'irresponsibility'.

"There was an incident where someone got caught stenciling on a rented bus with hardware store lacquer spray — and the person who did it came out and said, 'Can't you just use lacquer thinner to remove it?' and was cursed at for it. He's an ignorant person who thinks that lacquer thinner is a magic potion that can just cleanly erase the lacquer spray."

Set in 1960s Jeju Island, When Life Gives You Tangerines is a slice-of-life story that follows the rebellious and feisty aspiring poet Ae-sun (IU) and good-natured Gwan-sik (Park Bo-gum) from their childhood to adulthood. A Netflix exclusive released in March, it quickly became a beloved hit due to its heartfelt story and themes.

After the first claims were shared on X, other allegations of abuse and mistreatment of extras were posted on the platform on May 27.

A user who claims to have been an extra on the set posted: "Even among extras, the drama's schedule was notorious for being disliked... The [production team] even forced us to get haircuts, but for a Netflix production, they didn't provide anything. They didn't want to spend money on extras, so they went with the most cost-effective approach. They neglected the elderly extras in the cold winter and starved them.

"They didn't even provide a tea table or food cart and just threw them into a random restaurant area and told them to eat within 30 minutes. It was winter and they told us costumes would be provided but ended up not allowing us to wear insulating inner wear — they said it would ruin the look of the costumes. But who would even notice extras in the background?"

A report by The Korea Times also shared that in April 2023, a visitor to the Gochang Green Barley Field Festival had complained that the production team blocked access to areas of the venue and shouted at tourists not to take pictures.

Thereafter, the production company Pan Entertainment issued an apology where they acknowledged their failure in being considerate to the public.

In response to the allegations, Netflix gave a statement to Sports Seoul yesterday (May 28): "We are currently verifying the facts surrounding the situation. For any confirmed cases, we will conduct a thorough review to ensure such incidents do not happen again."

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kristy.chua@asiaone.com