Bill Maher publicly criticises writer’s strike
In a new statement, the American comedian Bill Maher has spoken out against the “kooky” writers’ strike.
During a recent episode of his podcast, Club Random, Maher dispatched another steaming hot take in the direction of weary and dissatisfied screenwriters. Speaking to his guest Jim Gaffigan, a stoned Maher said he felt that many writers are “asking for a lot of things that are, like, kooky,” referring ostensibly to liveable salaries.
“What I find objectionable about the philosophy of the strike [is] it seems to be, they have really morphed a long way from 2007’s strike, where they kind of believe that you’re owed a living as a writer, and you’re not. This is show business. This is the make-or-miss league,” he continued.
“I feel for my writers. I love my writers. I’m one of my writers,” he conceded. “But there’s a big other side to it. And a lot of people are being hurt besides them—a lot of people who don’t make as much money as them in this bipartisan world we have where you’re just in one camp or the other”.
He added: “There’s no in-between. You’re either for the strike like they’re fucking Che Guevara out there, you know, like, this is Cesar Chavez’s lettuce picking strike—or you’re with Trump. There’s no difference—there’s only two camps. And it’s much more complicated than that.”
Further to these comments, Maher took issue with the timing of the strikes. “They struck at just the wrong time; they have no leverage,” he said. “Has anyone who is watching TV recently noticed a difference? Has it affected the person down the pipeline? I don’t think so. I haven’t noticed a difference. At some point, I guess that will happen. What day is that when Netflix runs out of what they have in the warehouse?”
This assertion suggests that Netflix has a cavernous vault with multiple series’ ready for the next few years of its cherished shows.
Later in the discussion, Maher admitted that the WGA does “have some points” but neglected to expand on what these might be.
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