Boston University Grads Booed The Warner Bros. Discovery CEO Amid The Writers Strike
By
Ayana Archie
Published May 22, 2023 2:32 PM
Warner Bros. Discovery President and CEO David Zaslav at the National Association of Theatre Owners' convention last month in Las Vegas.
(Ethan Miller/Getty Images
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Getty Images North America)
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Students at Boston University chanted "pay your writers" as Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav gave the commencement address at the institution's graduation Sunday amid the nearly three week-old TV and film writers' strike.
Zaslav graduated from BU's law school in 1985 and was being given an honorary degree. On Sunday, he told students how important it is to be respectful and kind. But he paused several times as some students booed, chanted and turned their backs.
Before the program began, about 200 people were protesting outside Nickerson Field, the graduation venue, holding up signs that read "Protect Residuals Not CEOs" and "Private Jets But No Fair Wages," BU Today reported.
The school has faced backlash since it announced a day after the Writers Guild of America went on strike on May 2 that Zaslav would be the commencement speaker.
This is the union's first strike in 15 years, as it was unable to reach a deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents major studios and streamers, such as Discovery-Warner, Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Disney, Paramount, Sony and NBC Universal. Writers are advocating for better pay, improved residuals from streaming and guidelines about how artificial intelligence could affect writer's rooms.
"The picket is in no way meant to stop students, families, or faculty from attending the graduation ceremony, or to disrupt the ceremony," WGA East tweeted.
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