At least 66 members of the Directors Guild of America received an email with an implicit threat to fellow members who choose to work on TV coverage of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, a DGA-covered event, TMZ reported Thursday.
TMZ was forwarded the email by multiple members and cannot confirm the author, although several members told the news site they believe it is someone in a position to hire other members. And that person is clearly no fan of the president-elect, calling him “the monster we all fear.”
“It is not an overstatement that he is about to destroy this country if we don’t do something about it,” the email said, according to TMZ.
At that point, the author pivoted from simply venting about Trump to implying consequences for those who choose to help out with his embattled inauguration, writing that he will be remembering the names of those who collaborated.
“There is no need of naming names when the Inaugural credits will tell us enough about the people who truly care about this country and those who don’t share the same ideals,” the email said.
Another anonymous email from a DGA member seemed to support the first emailer, writing “I often feel like saying, ‘If you work on the inaugural, you’re an asshole. If you work on the inaugural and you voted for Bozo the Nazi, you’re an asshole, AND an idiot!’ But I didn’t say that, did I?”
A source with knowledge of the situation called the initial email “completely ridiculous.” The messages were sent between Jan. 6 and Jan. 10.
“This is a DGA-covered project, staffed with DGA-represented employees,” the DGA said in a statement provided to TheWrap. “We have been in communication with our members, and let them know we support their right to work on this project, and intend to protect them fully. We have, and will continue to, investigate the source of this anonymous email.”