Print
Email
Comment
Facebook
Digg this
January 15, 2008 at 12:35:00 PM | more stories by this author
WGA is reportedly asking artists affiliated with the Screen Actor's Guild, including Timberlake, 50 Cent, and Beyoncé, to skip Feb. 10 ceremony.
The wrath of the writers strike was able to reduce the Golden Globes to a Billy Bush-laden press conference.
Justin Timberlake
Now, the strike by the Writers Guild of America (WGA), currently in its 12th week, threatens to wreak similar havoc on the 50th annual Grammy Awards, according to Ad Age. The Grammys are set for Feb. 10 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and will be broadcast live on CBS.
The WGA is asking artists and musicians who are members of the Screen Actor's Guild (SAG) to skip the Grammys, a move intended to reduce the event's star power and thus viability. The WGA used a similar tactic last weekend to force the glitzy Golden Globes to be scaled back dramatically.
"WGA has informed us that this is struck work and they expect to have a picket line in place," SAG said yesterday in a statement. "In those circumstances, our members have been unwilling to cross a picket line, and we anticipate that solidarity will continue."
The list of SAG-affiliated artists and musicians is a lengthy one that includes such big names as Justin Timberlake, 50 Cent, Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, T.I., Ludacris, Reba McEntire, Mandy Moore, Jennifer Hudson, and Queen Latifah, not to mention the countless nonmusic celebrities that traditionally attend the ceremony.
In addition, the strike forces the Grammy telecast to take place without the assistance of writers, and tech workers booked to work on the show are not crossing the picket line to do their jobs.
Another ominous sign is that the performers and presenters for the 49th annual Grammys were announced by this time last year.
3 Comments
Oldest First | Newest FirstAs for the Oscars, it will be a shame if they cancel it, but I don't think there should be any cop out from the committee. You don't want the Oscars, fine. But I want zero b****ing when we don't award any. If you don't think your screenplays are worth recognizing, fine by us. 2008 will be the only year where the was no "Best of". In the future, children will look at the history of the oscars and ask their parents if no movies were made in the year 2007.
Well payed writers are sacrificing the livelihood of all the technical people involved with films and television. Those guys don't get any royalties and none of the writers are arguing to change that. Yet these people are greatly affected by this frivolous strike. Now they won't musicians to bear the cross for them as well. Television viewers are already bearing the cross, why make everyone suffer?