Tonight Show Employee Claims Jimmy Fallon Not Supporting Crew During Writers' Strike
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon has gone dark with the Writers Guild of America going on strike Tuesday, but one Tonight Show staffer is disputing Jimmy Fallon's claims that the show's star writer, producer, and host "support[s] them all the way." Asked about the then-looming strike at the Met Gala on Monday, Fallon told Variety that the iconic late night show would go dark and air re-runs in solidarity with the writers who voted to strike.
"I wouldn't have a show if it wasn't for my writers, and I support them all the way," Fallon said. "They have to have a fair contract. They've got a lot of stuff to iron out, and hopefully they get it done." On The Tonight Show going dark over the WGA strike, Fallon said, "Whatever I can do to support the Guild. I'm actually in the Writers Guild, as well. I couldn't do the show without them, and I support my whole staff."
He wasn’t even at the meeting this morning to tell us we won’t get paid after this week. @jimmyfallon please support your staff. Had fun bowling with ya last week, but a fun party won’t pay my rent https://t.co/hbOqiXxdFb
— Sarah Kobos (@skobos) May 2, 2023
But Sarah Kobos, a senior photo research coordinator for The Tonight Show, tweeted Tuesday that Fallon "wasn't even at the meeting this morning to tell us we won't get paid after this week."
"@jimmyfallon please support your staff," Kobos tweeted, tagging Fallon. "Had fun bowling with ya last week, but a fun party won't pay my rent." In a subsequent Twitter thread, Kobos wrote that The Tonight Show staff and crew would be unpaid active employees for network NBC.
"At a meeting Jimmy wasn't even at, we are told NBC decided to stop paying us after this week and end our health insurance after this month if the strike is ongoing. They won't even tell us if we will technically be furloughed. Just active employees who aren't paid," Kobos tweeted. "And that we shouldn't vent to coworkers."
While Kobos noted that she is "non-union and not a striking worker," the strike impacts all late night employees as The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Late Night with Seth Meyers, and The Daily Show shut down for the duration of the WGA strike. Kobos also noted that Fallon's sidekick and announcer, Steve Higgins, is on the picket line on New York's Fifth Avenue.
"Tonight Show" announcer and "SNL" producer Steve Higgins is walking the writers strike picket line on 5th Ave. https://t.co/WLAhBc0cqZ pic.twitter.com/sFI3SrwQqG
— Variety (@Variety) May 2, 2023
Below is the Guild's full statement released late Monday night:
Following the unanimous recommendation of the WGA Negotiating Committee, the Board of Directors of the Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) and the Council of the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), acting upon the authority granted to them by their memberships, have voted unanimously to call a strike, effective 12:01 AM, Tuesday, May 2.
The decision was made following six weeks of negotiations with Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Disney, Discovery-Warner, NBC Universal, Paramount and Sony under the umbrella of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). The WGA Negotiating Committee began this process intent on making a fair deal, but the studios' responses have been wholly insufficient given the existential crisis writers are facing.
The companies' behavior has created a gig economy inside a union workforce, and their immovable stance in this negotiation has betrayed a commitment to further devaluing the profession of writing. From their refusal to guarantee any level of weekly employment in episodic television, to the creation of a "day rate" in comedy variety, to their stonewalling on free work for screenwriters and on AI for all writers, they have closed the door on their labor force and opened the door to writing as an entirely freelance profession. No such deal could ever be contemplated by this membership.
Picketing will begin tomorrow afternoon.
Read more about the ongoing strike below.
