The ripples of the WGA Writers Strike were felt as far away as Boston over the weekend. Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav was at Boston University today to accept an honorary degree and give the class of 2023 commencement speech, where the students booed and chanted over his speech. A crowd of 7,000 had gathered on the university football field and the protest noises began as soon as Zaslav was introduced.
The speech lasted for a little over 20-minutes and “Pay your writers” and “Shut up, Zaslav”, among other things, could be heard. Apparently, the cries got worse as he delivered comments about his personal financial success including “life advice” about hard work and working with others you might dislike. A mantra almost guaranteed to trigger the brainwashed on your average American college campus these days. An airplane banner with the message “David Zaslav Pay Your Writers” was flown over Nickerson Field ahead of the speech.
The WGA had thrown fuel on the fire ahead of the speech, issuing a statement calling the selection of Zaslav for the commencement address as a “poor decision” and organizing via Boston guild members and students enrolled in the university’s film and television program.
In a statement after the speech, Zaslav thanked the university and said:
“I am grateful to my alma mater, Boston University, for inviting me to be part of today’s commencement and for giving me an honorary degree, and, as I have often said, I am immensely supportive of writers and hope the strike is resolved soon and in a way that they feel recognizes their value.”
The speech had to be paused several times to let the cries of the students subside.
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