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The Warner Bros. Discovery CEO was heckled during a Boston University commencement ceremony Sunday.
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Protestors shouted “Pay your writers” and a plane flew over the ceremony with the same message.
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Thousands of TV and film writers have been protesting wages in the entertainment industry.
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav’s speech at Boston University was drowned out by Writers Guild of America protestors on Sunday while he gave a speech during the college’s 2023 commencement.
Students, including those with the school’s film and TV program, as well as members from the school’s chapter of the Young Democratic Socialists of America, also participated by holding signs and disrupting Zaslav’s address, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Videos and photos posted online from the university’s Nickerson Field show Zaslav being interrupted the moment he hit the stage. As he spoke, he received jeers from the crowd, with protestors chanting “Pay your writers” and holding up signs that read “WGA STRONG.” A plane flew over the commencement as well with a banner reading “David Zaslav — Pay Your Writers.”
“The message from students, writers, members of other unions and of the community is very clear: Zaslav and all of the company chiefs have to negotiate an agreement that addresses the very real challenges WGA members face, that make it possible for writers — and aspiring writers — to build and sustain careers creating the content that the companies rely on for revenue and profit,” Jason Gordon, director of communications for the Writers Guild of America, East, told Insider in a statement.
In the video, Zaslav can be seen trying to cut through the heckling with little success and has to pause multiple times throughout the speech.
“If you wanna be successful, you’re gonna have to figure out how to get along with everyone, and that includes difficult people. Some people — some people will be looking for a fight,” Zaslav said, as protestors shouted, “Pay your writers.”
Following the speech, Zaslav told The Hollywood Reporter that he is “immensely supportive of writers and hope the strike is resolved soon and in a way that they feel recognizes their value.”
The decision to picket the event had been planned ahead of time, according to posts from WGA, East, after the university announced on May 4 that Zaslav, the 63-year-old multimillionaire heading the operation at media giant Warner Bros Discovery, would be their commencement speaker.
“Boston University should not give voice to someone who wants to destroy their students’ ability to build a career in the film and television industry,” Gordon told the Boston Globe in a statement on May 5.
Around 10,000 writers in the Writers Guild of America began striking on May 1 to demand better wages as royalty payments have nearly disappeared thanks to streaming.
Representatives for Warner Bros and Boston University did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
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