Striking Hollywood writers will not picket the upcoming 2023 Tony Awards, allowing the ceremony recognizing excellence on Broadway to go on next month.
The Writers Guild of America’s (WGA) East and West Coast branches have not negotiated an interim agreement or a waiver to contribute to the Tony Awards. But Tony Awards Productions, which hosts the celebration, conceded to specific WGA requests, the union said in a statement to CBS MoneyWatch.
“Tony Awards Productions (a joint venture of the Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing) has communicated with us that they are altering this year’s show to conform with specific requests from the WGA, and therefore the WGA will not be picketing the show,” the statement read in part.
It’s unclear how exactly the show will be changed, but typically writers themselves generate the show’s script.
“Responsibility for having to make changes to the format of the 2023 Tony Awards rests squarely on the shoulders of Paramount/CBS and their allies,” the statement continued. “They continue to refuse to negotiate a fair contract for the writers represented by the WGA.”
CBS, which is owned by Paramount Global, is the broadcast partner of the Tony Awards, set to air June 11. (Paramount Global also owns CBS News and Paramount+, and is one of the studios represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).
Tony organizers are expected to present a nonscripted show comprised of live performances.
The guild, which represents more than 11,000 film, television and entertainment writers, has been on strike since May 2. It does not represent writers of Broadway shows, but its members typically work on the Tony’s telecast.
Writers are demanding better wages from studios as well as protections that safeguard their jobs from being taken over by artificial intelligence.
However, both writers and the studios are entrenched in their positions, suggesting the strike could last through the summer.
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