A hacker called The Dark Overlord claims to have stolen the upcoming season of Orange is the New Black from Netflix, the Associated Press reports. The hacker demanded an unspecified ransom from the streaming site to prevent the release of upcoming episodes online, then later claimed to have released 10 of Season 5’s anticipated 13 episodes anyway.
In a statement to Variety, Netflix officials confirmed it is taking steps to address the issue. “We are aware of the situation. A production vendor used by several major TV studios had its security compromised and the appropriate law enforcement authorities are involved.”
While an investigation is ongoing, Netflix has not yet confirmed the authenticity of the materials released online.
According to a statement from the hacker, the remainder of the show’s stolen episodes have been uploaded due to Netflix’s failure to pay the ransom in a timely fashion. They claim to have access to other Netflix series, as well as shows from other studios.
“We're not quite done yet, though. We're calling you out: ABC, National Geographic, Fox, IFC, and of course Netflix, still. There's more Netflix on the feasting menu soon.”
READ: 'Orange Is The New Black' Season 5 Predictions: People Will Die In Full-Blown Riot
Why Orange is the New Black? It seems whoever The Dark Overlord is, he/she/they really hate cliffhangers. In their most recent statement, the hacker says “Netflix clearly received our message... yet they continue to remain unresponsive. With this information in mind (and the fact that leaving people on cliffhangers isn't fun) we've decided to release Episodes 2-10 of Orange Is The New Black Season 5.”
Now, obviously the hacker’s aims are more about money than offering a thoughtful aesthetic critique of the show, but we thought the end of Season 4 was fantastic. Yes, the final moments left us wanting to see what comes next, but the dramatic storytelling and character development was a tremendous improvement over the weirdly lighthearted summer-camp antics of Season 3. Cliffhangers can be frustrating, but at least we had reason to care about this show again.
It’s not clear whether the hacker also claims to have copies of OITNB Season 5’s final three episodes. In their words: “we were so early when we acquired the copies that post hadn't gotten around to episodes 11-13.” This seems to refer to post-production, suggesting that if the hacker does have copies of these late episodes, they are rough cuts. Or, perhaps, the episodes were not available from wherever the others were acquired.
The Associated Press claims rumors of a massive alleged hack of film and television productions have circulated for months. Back in February, The Dark Overlord told the AP "no one really (cares) about unreleased movies and TV show episodes." It would seem their view on the matter has changed.
Orange Is The New Black Season 5 officially comes to Netflix June 9.
