An online hacker has stolen unreleased episodes of Orange Is the New Black and is holding them for ransom until Netflix pays them off.
The unnamed perpetrator initially contacted Netflix and threatened to release the episodes of the upcoming fifth season of the show if they do not pay an unspecified sum of money, New York Post reports.
When Netflix did not pay up, the hacker uploaded the first episode on Friday night to the popular pirating site, The Pirate Bay and shared another nine episodes over the weekend.
The episodes were reportedly stolen from a post-production company in 2016.
Netflix have released a statement about the incident, confirming that they are “aware” of the hack.
“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.”
The incident is currently under investigation by the FBI, according to The Associated Press.
The culprit (known by the handle ‘thedarkoverlord’) has also issued threats to other networks, claiming that they’ll release 37 TV series and films that have been stolen including Netflix’s Bill Nye Saves The World, Brockmire, Celebrity Apprentice and NCIS: Los Angeles.
The hacker reached out to Netflix with a statement, writing:
“It didn’t have to be this way, Netflix. You’re going to lose a lot more money in all of this than what our modest offer was,” the unnamed culprit wrote.
“We’re quite ashamed to breathe the same air as you. We figured a pragmatic business such as yourselves would see and understand the benefits of co-operating with a reasonable and merciful entity like ourselves.”
Speaking to the other networks, they wrote: “There’s still time to save yourselves. Our offer(s) are still on the table — for now.”