WGA
More than a week after Israel was brutally attacked by Hamas terrorists, several showrunners today publicly called out the Writer’s Guild for its silence on the matter.
Today, in an open letter to Medium, senior showrunners expressed their disappointment that the WGA hasn’t spoken.
“When it comes to taking a stand, the Writers Guild of America has always led by example. When employers attempted to exploit our labor, the Guild courageously spoke out. As the BLM movement gained momentum, the guild rightly spoke out. When the #MeToo reckoning came and Hollywood needed to change, the guild spoke out again.
“But when terrorists invaded Israel to murder, rape and kidnap Jews… the guild remained silent.”
The letter was signed “Writers Speak Out” and had signatures from more than 60 prominent showrunners, including Eli Roth, Gideon Raff and Amy Chozick. Ellen Rapoport and Graham Yost, among others.
We’ve learned that several senior showrunners also reached out to WGA executives last week about the guild’s failure to make a public statement. These individuals were informed that there was a “process” the Guild had to go through in order to make such a political statement.
The lack of a public statement from the WGA comes as both the DGA and SAG-AFTRA have issued statements supporting Israel and condemning violence against Israelis in recent days.
“SAG-AFTRA regrets and condemns the horrific acts of aggression against the people of Israel on October 7,” the 160,000-member guild said bluntly on Friday. “The attack was a fundamental violation of human rights and dignity,” the guild added. “There is no justification for the killing and kidnapping of civilians. We mourn the loss of life and demand the safe return of the missing and hostages. We stand united against hatred and violence and pray for peace.”
SAG-AFTRA’s commentary Friday echoes in many ways that of the Directors Guild of America released on October 11, one of the first of what has now become many Hollywood groups and studios to announce their support for the Jewish state and condemn the murder of more than 1,200 Israelis and foreigners by Hamas.
“The DGA unequivocally condemns terrorism and joins the many voices in our community denouncing Hamas’ recent terrorist attacks in Israel and violence against innocent civilians,” the union said this week. “We stand against the increasing spread of anti-Semitism here in the United States and abroad and remain committed to supporting the Jewish people in our actions, words and deeds.”
The WGA is now the only major creative group in Hollywood that has not issued a statement supporting Israel and condemning the violence.
The WGA did not respond to Deadline’s request for comment. We will update this if and when this occurs.