Late-night hosts are teaming up with Spotify for a podcast to support staffers who are out of work amid the ongoing Hollywood double strike.
Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers and John Oliver will host “Strike Force Five,” during which they will lift the veil on their ongoing discussions surrounding the complex and historic times facing the entertainment industry. The podcast, which is set to launch Aug. 30 across most major podcast platforms, will feature the hosts as rotating moderators as the five TV personalities navigate the strike that has shut down their late-night shows.
All proceeds received from the podcast will benefit unemployed staffers from the hosts’ shows, including “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” “Late Night with Seth Meyers” and “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.” The series is currently set to consist of at least twelve episodes.
The idea for the collaboration began in May at the onset of the WGA strike when Colbert, Fallon, Kimmel, Meyers and Oliver began meeting weekly to discuss the strike’s spanning impact across the industry, injecting humor and levity into their conversations.
After 9,000 writers voted to authorize their guild to strike on May 2, Kimmel, Fallon, Colbert and Meyers’ shows were among the projects to be impacted by the work stoppage as late-night series relied on airing repeat episodes until further notice. Almost immediately following the strike’s authorization, the hosts began providing their staffers with financial support amid the strike.
Hosted on Spotify’s Megaphone, Spotify will serve as the exclusive sales partner for “Strike Force Five.” The podcast will also be supported by Mint Mobile and Diageo (with brands like Aviation American Gin, Bulleit Frontier Whiskey, Casamigos and Ketel One Vodka) as co-presenting sponsors.
“Strike Force Five” launches Wednesday, Aug. 30 across most major podcast platforms.
