38 Celebs Who Joined Picket Lines, Provided Food, And Spoke Out In Support Of The 2023 Writers Strike
Last week, the 11,500 members of the Writers Guild of America unanimously voted to strike after the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers failed to reach an agreement with them. The strike is largely focused on fair compensation for writers who work on streaming shows and films, as well as shrinking writers rooms and the potential use of AI.
You can read a full explainer here.
Essentially, a writers' strike means that a lot of productions will be put on pause. Meanwhile, many actors, comedians, and multi-hyphenates have spoken up in support of the strike. Some have even joined the picket lines themselves.
Here are 38 celebs who've supported the writers' strike:
1.After his Saturday Night Live hosting gig was canceled, Pete Davidson joined picketers in New York City. He even brought them pizza.
2.Jay Leno brought doughnuts to the union members who were picketing outside Walt Disney Studios in Burbank. It was a repeat of a similar show of support he made during the 2007-2008 writers strike, delivering doughnuts to picketers outside Universal Studios.
3.Rob Lowe joined picketers outside Paramount Studios. He told ABC 7, "The makeup, the hair, the grips, the electrics, the people who work the long hours have nowhere to go right now. Nowhere to go while we fight this out."
4.Late night hosts Seth Meyers, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, John Oliver, and Stephen Colbert reportedly banded together to pay for a free food truck to provide lunch for the writers outside the Netflix studios.
5.According to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon senior photo research coordinator Sarah Kobos on Twitter, Jimmy Fallon "got NBC to give [staff] a second week of pay, and he will be paying [them] himself for a third week." Seth Meyers is doing the same thing.
6.Drew Barrymore withdrew from hosting the MTV Movie & TV Awards in solidarity with the striking writers.
In a statement to Entertainment Tonight, she said, "I have listened to the writers, and in order to truly respect them, I will pivot from hosting the MTV Movie & TV Awards live in solidarity with the strike."
7.While accepting her Comedic Genius award at the MTV Movie & TV Awards, Jennifer Coolidge said, "Almost all great comedy starts with great writers, and I just think that as a proud member of SAG, I stand here before you tonight side by side with my sisters and brothers from the WGA that are fighting right now, fighting for the rights of artists everywhere."
8.During his acceptance speech for the Best Show award at the MTV Movie & TV Awards, Pedro Pascal said, "We're standing in solidarity with the WGA that is fighting very hard for fair wage."
9.In a pre-recorded acceptance speech for Best Breakthrough Performance at the MTV Movie & TV Awards, Stranger Things actor Jospeh Quinn said, "Being a writer is a hard job, and it deserves respect."
10.And Just Like That... actor Sara Ramírez joined WGA East picketers in New York. On Instagram, they said, "The content we consume (and some of us perform) would be NOTHING without writers. Thank you to all who are showing up to picket, pass out water, coverage, and all who are leading this action."
They continued, "I am here in solidarity as a member of WGA sibling union SAG/AFTRA. Power to the people! Also, can I just say how many hilarious and creative picket signs there are? BECAUSE WRITERS WROTE THEM."
11.At the Met Gala, Quinta Brunson told the Associated Press, "I'm a member of WGA and support WGA, and them getting — we, us — getting what we need." She also joined pickets in LA.
12.Amanda Seyfried also spoke out about the strike at the Met Gala, telling Variety, "Everything changed with streaming, and everyone needs to be compensated for their work. It's fucking easy."
13.Mindy Kaling joined the picket line in LA.
14.On Twitter, Mark Hamill said, "I stand with @WGAWest and @WGAEast and fully support them in their strike. 'If it ain't on the page, it ain't on the stage.' #WGAStrong."
15.Abbott Elementary actor Lisa Ann Walter joined picketers outside the ABC studio. In an Instagram video for WGA West, she said, "Somebody is making money, and all that the WGA is asking for is a tiny percentage — 3% — be shared among all of the writers."
16.New Girl actor Lamorne Morris joined the strike in LA. He told Deadline, "I'm always in support of writers. I don't exist without them."
17.During a fireside chat as part of the BAFTA tribute event honoring her, Shonda Rhimes said, "I am a writer on strike right now. I really wish that we didn't have to be on strike, and I feel the pain of the people who are dealing with the strike, but for me, for writers to get paid for what they do in a fair way is far more important."
She continued, "To have somebody devalue art, it's bad enough as it is right now. That's happening everywhere. But for writers to not be able to make a living wage while making a television show or making a movie is a problem."
18.Ted Lasso co-creator and star Jason Sudeikis joined a picket line. He told the Hollywood Reporter, "I feel like it affects us, whether we're aware of it or not, when you try to divide and conquer, when people have their hands in other people's pockets."
He continued, "Some of those pockets contain money, but some of those pockets contain ideas, and [they] do not offer anything in exchange for those ideas, and that willingness and work ethic and vulnerability that writers bring to film and television. We want to be protective of that."
19.His fellow Ted Lasso co-creator and costar Brendan Hunt accompanied him, telling the Hollywood Reporter, "The AI thing may not be affecting us directly yet, but it's coming. And it's just, it's such an easy box to tick off, and the resistance to agreement there is rather telling and a bit terrifying."
20.Fellow Ted Lasso cast member Brett Goldstein also joined the picket line.
21.Crazy Ex-Girlfriend creator and star Rachel Bloom picketed outside of Paramount.
22.Joining the writers outside the Disney studios, On My Block actor Jessica Marie Garcia brought bagels and coffee to share. She told Deadline, "I am striking because I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the incredible words I had to grow up watching and learning when I was a kid wanting to do this."
23.From the picket line outside Walt Disney Studios, Parks and Rec actor Ben Schwartz told Deadline, "I've been in the WGA for 13 years, and I'm striking so we get fair wages."
24.SNL writer and cast member Bowen Yang joined fellow strikers outside Netflix in New York. He told the Hollywood Reporter that he felt for "the new cast and the new writers who started out [on SNL this season] — they didn't get a chance to ring in the end of their first season, which is always a big milestone."
25.John Mulaney canceled a Baby J screening and panel with Jon Stewart in solidarity with the writers. On Twitter, he said, "I'm a writer first and foremost. I stand with my Guild...during this strike. A great deal of money is made off of their work, and they deserve to see some of it. Their demands are fair and reasonable, and I support them."
26.Veep actor Timothy Simons joined the LA picket line outside Netflix. He told Deadline, "I'm striking 'cuz I've never said a funny thing without a writer."
27.The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel actor Alex Borstein, pictured below with WGA West president David A. Goodman, joined picketers in California.
28.Ilana Glazer also participated in the picket line outside Netflix. She told the Hollywood Reporter, "We need living wages, our basic needs met, and the writing portion of TV and film has been squeezed and squeezed and squeezed over the last few years, and it really shouldn't be surprising to the big studios that the human beings who are creating this content, who are the beating hearts and minds of this, behind this art and content, want to be treated with basic dignity."
29.Shrill and SNL star Aidy Bryant joined strikers in NYC. On Instagram, she said, "And thanks to all the NYC bus drivers who honked in support. Those honks had me JUICED!"
30.Criminal Minds actor Paget Brewster met up with New Amsterdam executive producer and WGA strike captain Aaron Ginsburg in the picket line.
Guys, this strike captain is dreamy ! @DrLawyercop #AaronIsTheBestHuman We’ve been friends for 20 years. So we first met back when writers were paid fairly. #WGAstrong pic.twitter.com/XxMEkPeDI9
— paget brewster (@pagetpaget) May 6, 2023
Paget Brewster / Via Twitter: @pagetpaget
31.Natasha Lyonne joined the picket lines in LA.
32.In a TikTok she shared from the strike line, Supernatural actor Felicia Day showed off her sign, which said, "Pay up, bitches."
33.The Vampire Diaries actor Nina Dobrev joined writers across from Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank.
34.The Office actor Angela Kinsey also participated in the strike. On Instagram, she said, "Today I joined my writer friends on the picket line to show my support!"
35.Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. actor Clark Gregg joined picketers in New York City. He told AP, "I think [AI] is a real concern. I think it's what's especially scary about it is nobody, including a lot of the people who are involved with creating it, seem to be able to explain exactly what it's capable of and how quickly it will be capable of more."
36.Sex and the City actor-turned-activist Cynthia Nixon joined picketers, too. She told the Hollywood Reporter, "[The 2007-2008 strikes] were long strikes, and I think that that is one reason everybody is pouring onto the picket line to try and make as much noise as possible right at the beginning."
She continued, "We're here. We're not going to be broken. No one's budging. We've got to negotiate."
37.Yvette Nicole Brown told Morning in America, "What they're asking for is not too much. They're just asking to be properly compensated, and if people were to really realize that, just because you're on TV or just because you write for TV, doesn't mean that you're rich."
She continued, "A lot of times, people are living paycheck to paycheck — writers and actors, some directors. You only get money when you're working."
38.And finally, Josh Gad joined writers outside of Fox Studios. He told AP, "These are brilliant writers who I've had the opportunity to be led by. ... And they are the reason that I get to work. So, I'm out here alongside of them today, fighting for, I think, very reasonable things. And it's amazing to see everyone standing in solidarity."
He also said, "As sort of a hybrid here, I'll just speak on behalf of the actor side of me is, we are nothing without their words. We have nothing without them. And so, it's imperative that we resolve this in a way that benefits the brilliance that comes out of each of these people here today on the page. Because without the page, we have nothing. We have no instruction manual for art."
