‘How is this still happening?’ Fed-up creator of Billions bombarded by fans all pitching the same GameStop plot idea
The show’s creator spent two days fielding the same pitch
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Your support makes all the difference.The creator of Showtime's Billions would like the world to know that yes, he is aware of the GameStop short selling war, and yes, he's aware you think it would make a great episode of television.
As the war of attrition between Reddit lay investors and prominent short sellers over the price of GameStop stocks continues, those enraptured by the upending of the financial world have made sure Brian Koppelman, the creator of the show Billions, is paying attention.
On Wednesday and Thursday, Mr Koppelman fielded numerous inquiries regarding the inclusion of a "Reddit manipulates the market" plotline in a future episode of the show. His responses were nothing if not exasperated.
"Ya don't say," he replied to one user pitching the story. To another questioning if he was furiously reworking next season's scripts to account for the GameStop story, Mr Koppelman wrote "Imagine."
Eventually the show's cast even got involved in the bit.
Daniel K Isaac, the actor who plays Ben Kim on the show, tweeted at Mr Koppelman asking - with tongue in cheek - if he had considered incorproating the Game Stop saga into his storyline. Mr Koppelman's response was appropriately sarcastic.
"I thought, since you have appeared in every single episode, that you enjoyed being on the show," Mr Koppelman replied.
By late Wednesday, the writer had had enough of the bit.
"It's after midnight. And I can't do this another day. BUT. Thanks for the idea. Will give me something to dream about tonight," he wrote.
Mr Koppelman may have been done with the bit, but the bit was not done with him.
People continued to toss suggestions at him, prompting him to eventually ask "how is this still happening?"
While Mr Koppelman grappled with an army of Twitter users who think they've found a unique angle for a show about billionaires, a real plot twist was happnening in the true story of the short sale battle.
Robinhood, an app that allows people to buy and sell stocks directly and without transaction fees, barred users from buying $GME - the GameStop stock - and $AMC, which Reddit investors have also been buying up.
The app's ease of use and low barrier to entry into the world of trading made large scale collaboration simple.
While the move was supported by the hedge funds facing bankruptcy over the battle, the app's users were furious at the development.
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