“Hacks” star Jean Smart took to Instagram with a plea to television networks in the wake of the Los Angeles wildfires.
“With ALL due respect, during Hollywood’s season of celebration, I hope any of the networks televising the upcoming awards will seriously consider NOT televising them and donating the revenue the would have garnered to victims of the fires and the firefighters,” Smart posted late Wednesday night.
As kind and well-meaning as the Golden Globe-winning actress’ ask is, that’s not exactly how awards revenue works. Networks typically sign deals to air awards shows for years at a time.
For example, ABC’s deal with the Academy Awards nets the organization roughly $110 million annually, which is about 75% of its revenue related to the Oscars. In that deal, ABC doesn’t make money from simply holding onto the rights for the Oscars but from the advertising it’s able to sell from broadcasting the event. As some have pointed out in Smart’s comments, it may make more sense for networks to broadcast these awards shows as planned, but to instead donate the money earned from ads.
Regardless, the ongoing wildfires have already impacted Hollywood’s awards season. The Oscars moved its nomination announcement from Jan. 17 to Jan. 19 and extended its voting window by two days. Other events that have been postponed/canceled include the AARP Awards show, the Critics Choice Awards, AFI’s Awards Luncheon, BAFTA’s Tea Party, the in-person SAG Award nominations and 77th Writers Guild of America Awards nominations.
There have also been several productions that have been delayed due to the fires, one of which is “Hacks” Season 4. Other productions include “Suits: L.A.” and “Happy’s Place” for NBC; “Loot” for Apple TV+; “Ted” for Peacock; “NCIS,” “NCIS: Origins,” “The Price Is Right” and After Midnight” for CBS; and “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Doctor Odyssey” for ABC.
As more events and productions are impacted by the fires, TheWrap will continue to update its lists.
The Palisades and Eaton fires remain at 0% containment as of Thursday morning as nearly 30,000 acres have been burned since Tuesday.
