One staff member of 'The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon' calls out the late-night show host over his alleged fake support to writers amid the Writers Guild of America strike.
- May 3, 2023
AceShowbiz - During his appearance at the 2023 Met Gala, Jimmy Fallon showed support to writers amid the Writers Guild of America strike. However, one staff member of "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" slammed the TV host, suggesting that it was nothing but an empty word.
Sarah Kobos, who works as senior photo research coordinator for "The Tonight Show", took to Twitter to respond to Jimmy's Met Gala interview. "He wasn't even at the meeting this morning to tell us we won't get paid after this week," she tweeted on Tuesday, May 2. "@jimmyfallon please support your staff. Had fun bowling with ya last week, but a fun party won't pay my rent."
In the aforementioned interview, Jimmy was asked about the WGA writers strike, which began at 12:01 AM PST on Tuesday, a minute after its contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers expired. In response to the question, the late-night show host said, "I wouldn't have a show if it wasn't for my writers, I support them all the way."
While Jimmy ghosted the striking writers, Sarah shared in a separate tweet that Seth Meyers "was in their zoom production meeting and that he's going to try and take care of his staff and crew after NBC stops paying."
Sarah later clarified that she is not part of the WGA, and is therefore not a striking worker. However, she noted that she is among those whose jobs will be affected by the action. "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," she said. "They won't even tell us if we will technically be furloughed. Just active employees who aren't paid."
Amid the strike, late-night shows shut down their production. Impacted by the strike, "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon", "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert", "Jimmy Kimmel Live!", "Late Night with Seth Meyers" and "The Daily Show" will all go dark starting on Tuesday. Weekly shows like "Real Time with Bill Maher", "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" and "Saturday Night Live" will also stop production.
It was said that during the previous writers' strike, which lasted from November 2007 until February 2008, late-night hosts such as David Letterman, Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien paid the salaries of their non-striking staff out of their own pockets.
