Kevin Winter/Getty Images for MTV
In a development sure to wreak havoc ahead of the ceremony, the Writers Guild of America plans to picket Sunday’s MTV Movie & TV Awards.
The Hollywood Writers Union announced its intention to demonstrate Friday afternoon at the Sunday ceremony at Santa Monica’s Barker Hangar as part of its ongoing strike against Hollywood studios and streamers. (MTV is part of Paramount Global.) The protest is clearly a deliberate move as the guild’s strike schedule is primarily Monday through Friday at production sites including studio lots and corporate offices like Netflix’s Hollywood building.
Anticipating possible labor disputes, Drew Barrymore stepped down as the host of the ceremony on Thursday, while host and nominee Lala Kent (Vanderpump Rules) became the first member of the show’s talent to cancel their performance later in the day. Both said they made the decision out of solidarity with the writers, and that MTV subsequently planned an unhosted ceremony with no WGA writers. The show still plans to have a live audience.
As of press time, actors including Jamie Lee Curtis, Dave “Lil Dicky” Burd, Halle Bailey, Riley Keough, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Anthony Ramos and Tiffany Haddish had not publicly announced that they were canceling their scheduled appearances as presenters. Neither did The White Lotus’ Jennifer Coolidge, who was set to receive the ceremony’s Comedic Genius Award.
learned later Friday that the cast of Joy Ride and Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner, who were previously scheduled to attend as presenters and nominees respectively, pulled out of Thursday’s ceremony.
It’s unclear whether further talent losses will follow the WGA’s decision, as a picket line in Santa Monica could create a difficult situation for members of other unions such as the artists’ guild SAG-AFTRA. SAG-AFTRA has encouraged its members to continue to call in to work on ongoing productions but to join the WGA picket line and provide off-hours support.
The WGA has been on strike since May 2 after negotiations with studios and streamers collapsed the night before. MTV’s Movie & TV Awards is the first high-profile televised awards show since the work stoppage began. MTV has a contract with the WGA, and some of its members worked on the show for MoonMan Productions, the Viacom subsidiary, before the strike.
May 5, 4:43 p.m Updated to include details on additional talents retiring from the ceremony.