On Monday, WGA announced that members will not picket the 2023 Tony Awards, after the ceremony’s organizers made changes “to conform with specific requests” from the guild.
In a statement Monday evening, WGA didn’t disclose the nature of those changes. But whatever they are they come 3 days after the guild on Friday to denied a waiver to CBS and Paramount+ that would allow the ceremony to be broadcast and streamed. And indeed, WGA specifically blamed CBS, Paramount “and their allies,” for making the changes necessary.
“As has been previously reported, the Writers Guilds of America East and West (WGA) will not negotiate an interim agreement or a waiver for the Tony Awards. However, 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,” WGA said.
“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. They continue to refuse to negotiate a fair contract for the writers represented by the WGA. As they have stood by us, we stand with our fellow workers on Broadway who are impacted by our strike,” statement concluded.
It’s unclear if the ceremony will be broadcast, given WGA’s statement. But the event is still scheduled for Sunday, June 6 at 8 p.m. Eastern, with Ariana Debose as host. Representatives for the Tony Awards organization didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from TheWrap.
Earlier Monday, the Peabody Awards organization announced that the 2023 ceremony would be canceled. While the group didn’t mention the strike directly, it did cite “the position that many of this year’s Peabody Award winners find themselves in,” and “uncertainty and meaningful challenges that exist industrywide” as reasons.
It’s only the latest major industry event to be impacted. Just over a week ago, the live ceremony for the 2023 MTV Movies &TV Awards was canceled after host Drew Barrymore dropped out to support the strike. MTV replaced it with a clip show that included pre-taped segments. Last week the Critics Choice Association postponed a planned celebration of LGBTQ+ movies and television that it had planned to hold in early summer. And that’s in addition to the myriad television shows and movie shoots that have paused production.
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