“Outrageous They’ve Said Nothing”: Showrunners Set Meeting Today On Israel Attack As Ire Over WGA Silence Grows

Dominic Patten
·4 min read
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EXCLUSIVE: The Writers Guild of America hasn’t said anything publicly about the savage attack on Israel by terrorists on October 7, and a number of irate showrunners and others will be discussing that silence Friday.

Almost a week after dozens of high-profile WGA members put out an open letter reprimanding guild leadership for “when terrorists invaded Israel to murder, rape, and kidnap Jews… the Guild stayed silent,” guild members are getting together to say something more.

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“The guild wants this to go away, but we aren’t going away — it is outrageous they’ve said nothing, absolutely outrageous,” one individual who plans on joining today’s virtual meeting told Deadline.

Chaired by American Soul creator Jonathan Prince, a Zoom meeting is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. PT today to discuss why the WGA has been silent about Hamas’ onslaught against the Jewish state, which has left more than 1,400 dead and thousands injured.

Deadline has seen the Zoom invite list, and it’s full of big and outspoken industry names.

With around 90 participants expected, a number of the signatories to last week’s open letter are invited and have RSVP’d. Sacha Baron Cohen, Mad Men creator Matt Weiner, Jerry Seinfeld, Eli Roth, Amy Chozick, Billions boss Brian Koppelman, Susannah Grant, Steven Levitan, Aline Brosh McKenna, La Brea’s David Appelbaum, Scott Frank, Amy Sherman-Palladino, Jenji Kohan and many others including Prince put their names on the open letter.

One of those also invited to participate in the virtual meeting is The Americans co-showrunner Joel Fields. “The Writers Guild has failed us deeply,” Fields said onstage at Variety’s Hollywood and Antisemitism conference this week. “For an organization that constantly puts out statements to make sure that it’s on the right side of history, it has sadly issued its statement through its silence.”

Fellow Hollywood guild the DGA put out a statement October 11 condemning the atrocities against Israeli citizens and others, while still-striking SAG-AFTRA issued its own unequivocal remarks a few days later. “SAG-AFTRA deplores and condemns the horrific acts of aggression against the Israeli people on October. 7,” the 160,000-member strong guild wrote.

Disney, Comcast and Skydance have donated millions to humanitarian relief in Israel, as Warner Bros Discovery’s David Zaslav, Paramount Global, MRC, WME, CAA and UTA also have offered support. Also, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Haim Saban, UTA co-founder Jim Berkus, CAA’s Chris Silbermann, Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz, Paramount’s Brian Robbins and more have offered to “unequivocally stand in solidarity with Israel in the global fight against terrorism.”

Over the past week or so, writers, upset by the guild leadership’s lack of response to the Hamas terrorist attack and taking of hostages have threatened to withhold their dues or go fi-core, we hear. “There is a real groundswell,” one industry source said about the backlash within the guild’s membership.

Insiders are pointing out that the issue for many Jewish WGA members has been that guild leaders have not only “failed to release a statement but that they would not engage with members who are angry in any way to try to listen to them and understand them. They instead have been admonishing members who have raised the issue, making them the problem.”

The WGA did not respond to Deadline’s request for comment. If and when it does, we will update the post.

Earlier today, two American hostages held by Hamas have reportedly been released as Gaza craters into a humanitarian crisis of its own. Thousands of Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes, and hundreds of thousands more have been misplaced as Israel orders evacuations ahead of a likely ground invasion.

After President Joe Biden’s visit to Israel this week and the horrific destruction of a Gaza City hospital by what the U.S. and Israel are claiming was a rocket misfire by Islamic Jihad, the Jewish state’s forces are massed on the border with Hamas-run Gaza ahead of an attack.

With tensions rising and worries of threats domestically, Biden last night in an address from the Oval Office said “we must, without equivocation, denounce antisemitism.” Receiving wide praise the past two weeks for his firm support of Israel, Biden also said “we must also without equivocation, denounce Islamophobia.”

The WGA has about 12,000 total members.

Nellie Andreeva contributed to this report.

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