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An estimated 75 members of the Writers Guild of America gathered Friday afternoon for a 90-minute Zoom meeting that served as an expression of collective disappointment over their union’s silence following Hamas’ attack on Israel.
Showrunners including Hank Steinberg (“Without a Trace”), Howard Gordon (“Homeland”), Joel Fields (“The Americans”) and Marc Guggenheim (“Legends of Tomorrow”) took part in the virtual meeting where participants shared their Expressing confusion over why the WGA, fresh from a nearly 150-year day strike, has not joined other associations, including SAG-AFTRA and DGA, in condemning the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack that killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians were killed.
“It feels very much like we’ve all been marching in solidarity for five months with our guild’s back, and here they don’t have ours,” Guggenheim told after the meeting.
During much of Friday’s meeting, authors sought answers to the WGA’s silence on the conflict, with the hope that the dialogue would be the beginning rather than the end of what many hoped would be a conversation about the issue it would eventually also involve the guild leadership. (Several WGA board members either declined to comment when contacted by THR or did not respond to requests for comment.)
Why hasn’t the WGA spoken out on the matter after the 11,500-member union previously made statements supporting the Black Lives Matter movement and others like #MeToo? According to multiple sources, the WGA board remains divided over how to respond, fearing that some of its activists will reject any statement of support for the country. (The WGA declined to comment.)
According to sources, the decision on whether to issue a statement in the western branch rests with the WGA Board of Directors, chaired by President Meredith Stiehm. A source close to the panel said the panel could not agree on appropriate wording, frustrating any response.
“There are some really progressive guild employees who say we shouldn’t comment on events like this – no union should do that – period.” Does this make members feel better? Yes, but are we doing this at the expense of dissatisfying other members? “Yes,” says the source with knowledge of the guild’s discussions. “This board doesn’t give a shit; There are some really progressive people and many Jewish members are on the board. The Board wants to make a responsible statement, but it is careful and considerate to do so in the most respectful way possible, rather than rushing into publishing something. … They don’t mean any harm [Jewish or Palestinian] Members more than these members have already experienced. This puts a lot of strain on all of them.”
The Simon Wiesenthal Center, one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations in the United States, released its own statement on Friday condemning the WGA’s silence. “We applaud Joel Fields, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jerry Seinfeld, Matt Weiner, Jenji Kohan and well over 200 other WGA members who have condemned the silence of guild leaders when it comes to the murder, rape and kidnapping of Jews,” said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the center’s director of global social action. “We reiterate the message from WGA members on October 15: ‘…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.’”
Amid the polarizing sentiment on social media, advocates for Israel have called on Hollywood to take a stand, including Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan A. Greenblatt, who called on notable entertainment figures to speak publicly. “Given how social media algorithms distort the world, it is even more important that these voices prevail,” he wrote.
These calls for public speaking have made the WGA’s position more clear in some industry circles. “Historically, the guild has always tended to be in the middle on labor issues, and most unions do not comment on political situations – even situations like this in general, unless they are directly involved in the situation,” says the source’s knowledgeable source inner workings of the WGA, which sympathizes with those who resist any statement. “There’s been a lot of backlash to the statements from the DGA and SAG-AFTRA, and there are members of those unions who say, ‘Shit that you’re speaking on my behalf.’ Yes, what happened in Israel is terrible, but commenting on this atrocity without commenting on the previous atrocities committed by Israel against the Palestinians in Gaza is harmful.”
The WGA now finds itself in a difficult situation considering it has a history of issuing opinions on all issues between BLM and the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. A source with former ties to WGA leadership said the problem now is that the union has a track record of responding to sensitive issues and its silence is now causing Jewish members to ask, “Why not us?”
That was the question for writers at Friday’s Zoom meeting. “It’s puzzling,” said one of the authors who attended Friday’s meeting. “One of the things a lot of people wanted on Zoom was an explanation. There was some discussion about whether it would have any significance if the Guild made a statement tomorrow, or would it seem like it was forced? Does it make a difference if someone does the right thing if they have to be forced or shamed into doing it? I don’t know the answer.”
Meanwhile, an anonymous Google Doc was shared on social media calling on members of the WGA, SAG-AFTRA and the Directors Guild of America to “reject pressure campaigns in support of the attack in Gaza.”
Katie Kilkenny contributed to this report.