Staff from The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon have urged the talk show host to support his employees as writers engage in a writers’ strike, alongside other members of the Writers Guild of America. This comes after negotiations with writers and big studios companies, especially from streaming platforms, failed to come up with a deal to appease both parties.
Tonight Show’s senior photo research coordinator Sarah Kobos tweeted out that she and the show staff were threatened by NBC if they participate in the strike. They were told that starting this week, the broadcaster would stop paying its employees and end their health insurance after the end of May if the strike goes on.
Kobos also revealed that NBC wouldn’t tell if they’re going to be suspended from work and that employees were urged “not to vent” about it to each other.
Fallon spoke about the upcoming strike during the 2023 Met Gala Red Carpet in an interview with Variety. The talk show host said that he “supports them all the way” and that they wouldn’t have a show without them. He also told the interviewer that the show would “go dark” if the strike was approved and revealed that he is also a member of the Writers Guild.
Kobos called out the host on social media, asking for more support for his staff and crew since he wasn’t at the aforementioned NBC meeting. She told him that partying with him was fun, but it “won’t pay my rent.”
The Writers Strike was announced late Monday evening after the Board of Directors unanimously gave the authority to strike after a deal between studios and writers was not met. Multiple writers took the streets of LA and New York to fight for better compensation, calling for studios to stop treating writers so poorly. This is the first time in 15 years since the Writers Guild of America has gone on strike It’s currently unknown how long the strike will last, but the last one in 2007 lasted for 100 days.
Hopefully, Fallon hears his staff’s message, considering that he too is a member of the Writers Guild.