David Zaslav Says Striking Writers Were “Right About Almost Everything”

The WGA members spent the summer on strike because their members deserved pay bumps, protections from AI, and to prevent the job from becoming a gig.

This strike came with the necessary sacrifices to ensure writing stayed a profession. In the end, writers were able to negotiate for fair pay, after a summer where Hollywood and its ancillary industries suffered.

That's why it is asinine to hear the CEO of one of the studios we were forced to strike against saying we were right all along.

David Zaslav, the Warner Brothers Discovery CEO, told The New York Times in a new profile that “They are right about almost everything,” he said. “So what if we overpay? I’ve never regretted overpaying for great talent or a great asset.”

Back in May, when the studios refused to negotiate with the WGA, an almost 150-day strike happened. That strike hurt the California economy alone by around five billion dollars. By the time studios were willing to come back to the table, it only took a few days (three by my count) for both sides to agree to terms.

So, nearly 150 days on strike, just to negotiate for three days and get back to work.

In the middle of all of that, Zaslav and the studios were able to save a bunch of money and also laid off a ton of people. And it's not like they were bargaining the whole time; they never even countered the WGA and, instead, took the summer to ignore them and SAG.

All while Zaslav made north of $240 million in this year alone.

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