(CNN) Jennifer Coolidge loves two things: popcorn and screenwriters.
Coolidge made this clear in a recorded speech shown during Sunday’s broadcast of the MTV Movie & TV Awards, where the “White Lotus” star accepted a special Comedic Genius Award.
After commenting on the irony that the gold popcorn statuette was that of her favorite food (she was later seen munching on some real popcorn while accepting another award for best frightened performance), Coolidge showed some love to the members of the Writers Guild of America, who are currently on strike.
“Almost every great comedy starts with great writers and I just think that as a proud member of SAG (The Screen Actors Guild) I stand here before you tonight alongside my sisters and brothers from the WGA who are fighting right now . fighting for artists’ rights everywhere,” said Coolidge.
Quoting William Shakespeare, she said, “The play is the thing.”
“I don’t want to put words in his mouth, but I think it’s EVERYTHING,” she concluded, before breaking out into a dance while House of Pain’s “Jump Around” played in the background.
Joseph Quinn, who got the best break for his role as Eddie Munson on Stranger Things Season 4, also referenced the ongoing strike, saying in his pre-recorded speech, “Being a writer is a tough job and it deserves respect.”
Pedro Pascal also thanked the writers and accepted the Best Show award for The Last of Us on behalf of showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann. “We stand in solidarity with the WGA, which fights very hard for fair wages,” he said.
Members of the WGA began picketing on May 2 after the guild and major studios and streamers failed to reach an agreement on a new deal. The strike has already disrupted numerous productions, including the MTV Movie & TV Awards itself.
Drew Barrymore resigned from her hosting duties to support the writers and a pre-taped broadcast aired instead of being a live show after the WGA West announced plans for picketing outside the Los Angeles venue. Pre-taped segments with Barrymore and pre-taped winners’ speeches were broadcast, with clips of past MTV Movie & TV Awards moments filling the space between awards shows.
Other productions affected by the strike include all of the network’s late-night shows, which went dark on Tuesday as the strike began, as well as Saturday Night Live, which canceled this weekend’s show, which would have seen alum Pete Davidson return as host.
Also “Stranger Things” from Netflix announced on Saturday that they halted production of season five because of the strike, further delaying the much-anticipated final season.