Felipe Torres Medina, a writer on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, organized a comedy writers picket outside 30 Rock in New York that saw the cream of the late-night crop turn up to fight for a “fair” deal.
Stars such as John Oliver, Amber Ruffin, Ziwe, Jason Sudekis and Phoebe Robinson were among those in attendance, as the writer strike is in its 87th day and the actors strike is in its 14th day.
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John Oliver, host of HBO’s Last Week Tonight, said, “I like what Chris Keyser said yesterday, ‘This isn’t a war, this is a basic request for some completely understandable contract points’ so I want to see a fair deal as soon as possible. It is absolutely appalling that they are not negotiating right now. The fact that they are not around a table right now is absolutely disgusting.”
Amber Ruffin, a writer on Late Night with Seth Meyers, who also hosts Peacock’s The Amber Ruffin Show, said that because all of the late-night hosts – Meyers, Colbert, Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel, were around during the 2007/08 strike, they were prepared, which “gave us a really strong start”.
She told Deadline, “Guessing when this strike will end is a fool’s errand but we’re prepared to last as long as it lasts because what we’re striking for is what we should have been, done and had.”
Ruffin spoke in front of a group of striking comedy/variety writers and performers and joked that the studios are “so bad that they got the writers to leave the house”.
“It feels great to come out and protest with you guys and to look in your unpaid eyes and know they we’re all going to be ok and we’re all going to make it. Coming out to these things, fills you with a fire and a beautiful anger because these people are taking advantage of you and your home and your writing, but then you get out here and you see this. Let’s stay angry and full of love with each other,” she added.
Late-night featured in one of the central demands of the WGA as it was negotiating with the AMPTP. The union has been attempting to apply MBA minimums to comedy variety shows made for streaming, giving parity, for instance, for writers who work on a show like The Amber Ruffin Show or Apple’s The Problem with Jon Stewart compared to those who work on broadcast network shows.
Torres Medina said that the studios are “lucky” to have comedy writers. “They are lucky that we do what we do and that we do it so well because they can’t do it. They don’t understand what we do and they think they can replace us with AI because they’ve never written anything in their lives and their favorite book is called something like Think Like A Swillionaire: The Beast Habits To Become A Business Megatron.”
“We make them rich, we make them so much money. Comedy writers came up with [SNL’s] More Cowbell and [Friends’] Smelly Cat and lines that are so good that they continue to make money from them and I know that because they sell them in a store in [30 Rock] on t-shirts and mugs. All that we ask, is that we are able to share in the success of what we make because they would be nothing without us, without The Simpsons, Abbott Elementary, Sheldon, young and old, note to self, when strike is over, pitch Old Sheldon to Paramount, maybe he is a cowboy and played by Kevin Costner. Our work is fun and very silly, it’s best when it’s very silly, but our work is valuable and profitable. Do not let them tell you otherwise. They are trying to steal our lunch money and it’s not going to work because we know how to deal with bullies, we’re comedy writers,” he added.
Phoebe Robinson, creator of HBO’s 2 Dope Queens, said that she remember watching Conan O’Brien in school and wanting to write for television.
“We are so strong and young and vibrant and rich, just kidding about the rich part. We’re all fucking pissed off and furious about the comments they made about wanting to starve us, try me bitch, you can’t do it. We are so talented and work so hard and we love what we do, we love being funny and making people laugh. We got to get paid what we deserve. We provide a service and the powers that be can’t say ‘No, what you’re asking for is too much, let me go remodel my superyacht’. What the fuck are we talking about, that’s so ignorant,” she said.
“I’ve been doing comedy for 15 years and most of those years, it’s a struggle, you’re hustling for the next job, you have a great year and then the next two years are lean years and we need to feel supported and we need to get residuals and we need to be able to make a living at the thing that we are passionate about. People love watching late-night, they love watching comedies… we are providing that service. Without writing, those shows would not exist, they cannot erase us. They can bring in AI all they want, but they know deep down, they can’t erase us. That’s why they’re being petty bitches right now. Don’t give up, they are going to back down, we just need to keep our foot on the pedal,” she added.
Ziwe, whose eponymous show ran for two seasons on Showtime before being canceled, took a slightly different approach, as she is wont to do. She joked that she’d recently watched The Office’s Shareholder Meeting episode, where Dwight quotes Stalin but she wasn’t going to do that.
“Let’s talk about the real brass tax, which is that as comedy writers, we’re not stupid, I know when I’m being robbed. This is a pro-greed speech. I want it all. Please put that in the press. I want it all. I’m going to spit in your face and you’re going to like it. Recently, I was told that people enjoy me because it’s like a kink sexual thing and I’m really starting to feel that,” she joked.
Ziwe, who also wrote for Desus & Mero, added, “We need to come together and demand our rights because, as a wise man once said ‘I have a dream’. I would continue but he was murdered. I’ll end on something more positive, not talking about the persecution of people who spoke out for their rights.”
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