EXCLUSIVE: The Writers Guild of America still hasn’t said anything publicly about the brutal attack on Israel by terrorists on October 7, but some outraged showrunners and others will address that silence today.
Nearly a week after dozens of high-profile WGA members published an open letter chastising the guild’s leadership for “the guild’s silence while terrorists invaded Israel to kill, rape and kidnap Jews…”, gather the guild members to say something else. , virtual.
“The Guild wants it to go away, but we won’t go away. It’s outrageous that they didn’t say anything, absolutely outrageous,” one person who planned to attend Friday’s meeting told Deadline this morning.
Under the chairmanship of American soul Creator Jonathan Prince, A Zoom meeting is scheduled today at 12:30 pm PT to discuss why the WGA has remained completely silent on Hamas’ attack on the Jewish state, which left more than 1,400 dead and thousands injured. Deadline has seen the invite list and it is full of big and prominent names in the industry.
With around 90 participants expected, some of the signatories of last week’s open letter have been invited and have registered. Sacha Baron Cohen crazy men Creators Matt Weiner, Jerry Seinfeld, Eli Roth, Amy Chozick, billion Chief Brian Koppelman, Susannah Grant, Steven Levitan, Aline Brosh McKenna, Le Brea’s David Appelbaum, Scott Frank, Amy Sherman-Palladino, Jenji Kohan and many others, including Jonathan Prince, added their names to the open letter.
One of those also invited to participate in Friday’s virtual meeting is The American Co-showrunner Joel Fields. “The Writers Guild completely failed us,” Fields said onstage at Variety’s Hollywood and Anti-Semitism Conference on Oct. 18. “Unfortunately, for an organization that constantly makes statements to ensure it is on the right side of history, it made its statement through silence,” he added.
While the DGA released a statement on October 11 condemning atrocities against Israeli civilians and others, the still high-profile SAG-AFTRA made its own strong comments a few days later. “SAG-AFTRA deplores and condemns the heinous acts of aggression against the people of Israel in October. 7,” said the 160,000-member guild.
Disney, Comcast and Skydance have donated millions to humanitarian aid in Israel, while WBD’s David Zaslav, Paramount Global, MRC, WME, CAA and UTA have also provided support. Jeffrey Katzenberg, Haim Saban, UTA co-founder Jim Berkus, CAA’s Chris Silbermann, Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz, Paramount’s Brian Robbins and others also offered to “stand unequivocally in solidarity with Israel in the global struggle against terrorism.”
We hear that over the past week, writers, shocked by the debt leadership’s lack of response to the Hamas terror attack and the taking of hundreds of people hostage, have threatened to withhold or expropriate their contributions. “There is a real upswing,” an industry source said of the backlash within guild members.
Insiders point out that the problem for many Jewish WGA members is not only that guild leaders have failed to issue a statement, but also that they do not want to deal with members who are in any way upset try to listen to them and understand them not. . Rather, they admonished the members who raised the issue and made them the problem.”
The WGA did not respond to Deadline’s request for comment on the situation. If so, we will update the post. Two American hostages held by Hamas were reportedly freed today as they cleared craters in the Gaza Strip, sparking a humanitarian crisis of its own.
After President Joe Biden’s visit to Israel this week and the horrific destruction of a Gaza City hospital in what the US and Israel say is a failed rocket attack by Islamic Jihad, the Jewish state’s forces are busy on the border with Hamas -controlled Gaza Strip. for an impending ground invasion.
With tensions high and rising and concerns about threats at home, Biden said in a speech in the Oval Office last night: “We must without a doubt denounce anti-Semitism.” The president has received widespread praise for his strong support of Israel in the past two weeks and also said: “We must also denounce Islamophobia without hesitation.”
The WGA has a total of approximately 12,000 members.
Nellie Andreeva contributed to this report
Source: Deadline
Joseph Fearn is an entertainment and television aficionado who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a keen eye for what’s hot in the world of TV, Joseph keeps his readers informed about the latest trends and must-see shows.
