No WGA Support For Israel Over Hamas Attacks, Guild Boss Says; “Consensus Out Of Reach,” Meredith Stiehm Tells Showrunners

Dominic Patten
·6 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

EXCLUSIVE: The Writers Guild of America’s silence on the October 7 terrorist attacks on Israel looks to be the only statement they’ll be making, at least according to West Coast president Meredith Stiehm.

“In the past week, some members have requested that the Guild take a public stand on events in the Middle East,” WGA West boss and former Homeland EP today told showrunners and others who have sought a statement of support and condolence from their Guild similar to what the DGA and SAG-AFTRA, plus Disney, Comcast, and many others have already said for the over 1400 killed by Hamas and the hundreds taken hostage. “Equally, many members have asked us to refrain from making any statement” Stiehm continued in the email sent out at around noon today.

More from Deadline

Read the full email, entitled “Follow up to your outreach” from WGAW president Meredith Stiehm below.

“The Board of Directors has worked exhaustively to consider the great diversity of opinions among our members on this issue, and determine how best to address this as a Guild,” the recently reelected WGAW president added, noting “we of course share your anguish,” to the concerned members. “Like the membership itself, the Board’s viewpoints are varied, and we found consensus out of reach. For these reasons, we have decided not to comment publicly.”

“What a total cop-out, they should be ashamed,” one prominent showrunner told Deadline of the email, which he received Saturday. “They put a statement out about everything else, but not dead Jews, disgusting.” Another scribe said that they thought “ChatGPT wrote this,” while yet another writer said they “had gotten letters from the taxman with more empathy.”

Stiehm’s email nonewithstanding, there has been no official statement from the WGA of support or a decision to not support a statement on the bloody October 7 attacks on towns, settlements and military bases on the Israeli-Gaza border.

It appears that Stiehm’s email went out mainly to Guild members who have signed an open letter to the WGA decrying the silent treatment given to the tragic onslaught of two weeks ago. Entitled “Writers Speak Out,” the widely circulated of last week letter stated: When the BLM movement took flight, the Guild rightfully spoke up. When the #MeToo reckoning came and Hollywood needed to change, again the Guild spoke up. But when terrorists invaded Israel to murder, rape, and kidnap Jews… the Guild stayed silent.”

As of today, Sacha Baron Cohen, Mad Men creator Matt Weiner, Jerry Seinfeld, Eli Roth, Homeland and 24’s Howard Gordon, Amy Chozick, Billions EP Brian Koppelman, Susannah Grant, Steven Levitan, Aline Brosh McKenna, La Brea’s David Appelbaum, Scott Frank, Amy Sherman-Palladino, The Americans co-showrunner Joel Fields, Jenji Kohan and many others have put their names to the open letter.

The Saturday morning email directly from Stiehm also follows a virtual meeting of over 80 showrunners and other writers on the WGA’s mute response held yesterday, as Deadline exclusively reported. Moderated by Jonathan Prince, the over 90-minute gathering sought to find a way for the group to move the discussion with the Guild forward. While no absolute conclusion were met, and more meetings are planned, the group is resolved to seek both an apology and a statement of support from the Guild leadership.

All of those goals look very distant now, especially based on Stiehm’s correspondence.

It seems that a WGAW board meeting this past week on this matter became quite contentious with the legacy of antisemitism being compared and contrasted to notions of colonization, and Israel as an apartheid state when it comes to the Palestinians. Several Guild members have made it clear to the board and WGA leadership that they would view any statement of support for Israel and condemnation of the brutal violence of October 7 as also being support of the Jewish state’s subsequent airstrikes on Hamas-run Gaza and the looming ground invasion the Israel Defense Forces are preparing.

Thousands of people have been killed in Gaza by Israel’s response so far, with hundreds of thousands ordered to leave their homes before the IDF moves in. Only today has meger humanitarian relief, negotiated by Joe Biden on his recent trip to Isreal last week, been able to cross into the terriory.

“The WGA’s silence may all be forgotten once Gaza is invaded, but we won’t forget,” one A-list showrunner asserted. “We were all out on the picket lines together for months, but when we needed them, we were kicked to the curb.”

Read the full email from WGA West president here:

Wanted to let you know where the Board ended up on this. I know the last couple of weeks have been extremely painful, and I’m so sorry for that. We of course share your anguish, and wish there had been a simple answer here.

In the past week, some members have requested that the Guild take a public stand on events in the Middle East. Equally, many members have asked us to refrain from making any statement.

The Board of Directors has worked exhaustively to consider the great diversity of opinions among our members on this issue, and determine how best to address this as a Guild. Like the membership itself, the Board’s viewpoints are varied, and we found consensus out of reach. For these reasons, we have decided not to comment publicly.

What we can agree on is that many members are deeply affected,  and need community and support in this challenging time.

To that end, here are some resources we hope you will find helpful.

With Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia on the rise, please know that if you are concerned about your safety at work or want to bring a workplace-related discrimination, harassment or bullying claim, or if you merely need to have a confidential discussion with an experienced Guild representative about your situation, including if you’d like a representative to accompany you to file a complaint, contact legal@wga.org.

If you are currently experiencing anxiety and/or emotional distress that is interfering with your ability to perform your job duties, you may be entitled to an accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act; such as a modified work schedule, remote work, and additional leave.  If you’d like the Guild to assist with the request, please call the Legal Department at (323) 782-4521, or email legal@wga.org.

Mental health resources are available to you and your family through our health plan. You can find participating PWGA providers HERE. LA County Department of Mental Health (LACDMH)’s help line is available 24/7 to provide mental health support, resources and referrals at (800) 854-7771. The Entertainment Community Fund offers stress and anxiety workshops. You can call or text the Disaster Distress Helpline at 1-800-985-5990 or the  National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 998.  Counselors can both help anyone calling in and offer links to whatever resources are local to the caller.

Best of Deadline

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.