Tuesday was the first full day of the Writers Guild Association strike — their first in 15 years. Tensions between the group and the studios and streamers that employ their members had reached a fever pitch. At heart of the former’s fury is that pay had not changed during the streaming era, leaving many writers struggling to get by, all while CEO salaries skyrocketed. Things are so heated that when one notable WGA member went on CNN, he wound up calling out the network’s top boss’ own take home pay.
Went on CNN to explain why writers are striking, ended up roasting their bosses’ salary. pic.twitter.com/Si4HHDVuM8
— Adam Conover (@adamconover) May 2, 2023
Adam Conover, best known for truTV’s Adam Ruins Everything, did a remote chat with CNN correspondent Sara Sidner, who was probably not ready for her guest to roast the man who runs the company that owns her home network.
“David Zaslav, the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of the network I’m talking to you on right now, was paid $250 million last year, a quarter of a billion dollars,” Conover said. “That’s about the same level as what 10,000 writers are asking him to pay all of us collectively, alright. So I would say if you’re being paid $250 million — these companies are making enormous amounts of money. Their profits are going up. It’s ridiculous for them to plead poverty.”
Zaslav wasn’t the only CEO that targeted by Conover’s ire. He also called out Ted Sarandos, the Netflix honcho, whose salary jumped 32% from 2021 to 2022, earning him a whopping $50.3 million.
“When the writers who are making their shows, some of them are not able to pay their rent or mortgages — I know writers who have to go on assistance,” Conover railed. “If you look at these companies, they’re making more money than ever. The people who make the shows for them are making less.”
Sidner ended the segment with a joke about Conover tearing apart her top boss on her watch. “Thank you so much for coming on because you ruin everything,” she said. “You may have just ruined my career, but I don’t mind.”
It’s unclear how long the WGA strike will last, but don’t expect to see your favorite late night chat shows any time soon, or that Pete Davidson episode of SNL that was supposed to go down this weekend.
(Via Variety)