Dispatches From WGA Picket Lines Day 6: Latino Writers Hit Universal With Steven Canals, Jaina Lee Ortiz, Jaime Camil & More; Disabled Scribes At Amazon Studios

Striking film and television writers got a signal boost on Thursday from U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (d-NY), who spoke at a rally outside the East Coast offices of Paramount Global in the busy heart of Manhattan’s Times Square. 

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Colin Farrell, Mariska Hargitay, Danny Strong, Paula Pell, Rachel Dratch, Michael Kelly and Craig Zobel were among the stars who came out to the writers strike picket line outside Paramount Global’s New York City office in Times Square Thursday. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D.-N.Y., and local politicians spoke at the event in support of the Writers Guild of America’s (WGA) cause against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) that has led to a four-week-and-counting work stoppage due to the organizations’ inability to ink a new contract May 1. “This is about what’s right. We’ve seen income inequality grow exponentially over the last decade; and in your business, it has never been more present,” Gillibrand said to the crowd, filled with not only WGA members, but also those from SAG-AFTRA, IATSE and Teamsters, among other unions. “We see writers working hard every day to produce content and we have an unfair playing field. Not only does AI want to displace our writers, they simply can’t. AI generates content based on what’s been written before the work you did last year, and the year before. It’s not original. It’s not imaginative. It doesn’t come from the human heart. It’s not about a human experience. It’s not about what people actually want to learn about or know about or see or experience. That is what writers bring to the equation every single time. So this strike is so important for the future of this country. It’s about the value of workers; workers and what they create is fundamentally valuable.”

As the WGA strike entered its fourth week, Tony Kushner swore, Steve Earle sang, Wanda Sykes led union chants and Busy Philipps told CEO jokes for more than 1,000 demonstrators and hundreds of onlookers who filled the street in front of NBCUniversal headquarters Tuesday in Midtown Manhattan. 

Striking writers in New York made a bid on Monday to disrupt work on American Horror Story by picketing outside a production facility in Queens where the popular FX series known for its macabre plot lines and star-studded casts is filming season 12.

There was come old-school writer cred on the picket line outside the Fox lot in Century City today. David E. Kelley, he of the 11 Emmys and 30 nominations, is a veteran of multiple WGA strikes going back to 1988. Introducing himself as “David E. Kelley, old writer,” the Love & Death creator — whose many credits also include Big Little Lies, Big Sky, The Lincoln Lawyer, The Undoing, The Practice, Ally McBeal, and Picket Fences — told Deadline why he’s striking this time.

Garth Brooks is opening up about the time he ended up in a shower with Steven Tyler.

Picketers gathered outside Warner Bros. in Burbank today found themselves buoyed by a unique presence: Flavor Flav. The hip-hop icon-turned-reality star showed up to cheers from the assembled WGA supporters.

Garth Brooks admitted he once accidentally showered with Aerosmith's Steven Tyler. Brooks, 61, shared the moment during an appearance on "The Kelly Clarkson Show." "I showered with him," Brooks told Clarkson while the two were discussing Aerosmith.  The country music star and Tyler both performed at a Billy Joel concert in July 2008. "We were playing the ‘Last Play at Shea’(with) Billy Joel.They're getting ready to tear down Shea Stadium in New York, and I go out there, and I'm late anyway, and they just have the baseball showers," he recalled.

Only in New York! Garth Brooks shared a wild story about an encounter he had with Steven Tyler while performing with Billy Joel.

With just the CW left tomorrow, the near-talent-free upfronts are winding down, and shows are still being shuttered in New York City, while on the picket lines in LA there was Mariachism, tacos, tunes and some Mandalorians to galvanize the troops.

It was a tale of two coasts today, as WGA picketers and their allies targeted Disney’s upfront presentation in New York and also the company’s Burbank lot in Los Angeles. And the two scenes were very different.

scathing message on Facebook, “Star Trek: The Next Generation” star Wil Wheaton blasted “Jeopardy!” host Ken Jennings for crossing the picket line during the Writer’s Guild of America strike, giving him a stark warning.“This is a VERY small town, Ken Jennings, and we will all remember this,” Wheaton typed on the social media platform. “Your privilege may protect you right now, but we will *never* forget.”He also included the hashtag “#WGAStrong” in the post.The actor continued his thoughts in the comments section of the post, calling out those who were speaking negatively about unions.“Hey y’all, if you’re here to s–t on unions, you can f–k right off.

The NBCUniversal Upfront presentation was the center of Day 14 of the writers strike on the east coast.

Striking writers in New York City said they disrupted filming of FBI: Most Wanted for a second straight day by heading off a planned location shoot at a public park in Brooklyn on Friday morning and later by causing slowdowns of work on the Dick Wolf-EP’d crime drama starring Dylan McDermott and Alexa Davalos at a nearby soundstage. 

Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan are set to return together for Disney’s Freaky Friday 2 - bringing joy to fans of the classic first film. Both actresses have discussed the possibility of a sequel to the 2003 smash hit movie Freaky Friday this week on the twentieth anniversary of its release. And now, according to reports, Jamie Lee, 64, and Lindsay, 36, are set to reprise their roles as a mother and daughter who wake up one Friday to discover they have swapped bodies.

After yesterday’s Imagine Dragons party outside Netflix, it was Paramount’s turn to pop.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Let the gig economy debate begin. One of the most contentious issues in the writers strike that erupted May 2 is the assertion by the Writers Guild of America that screenwriting is in danger of becoming part of the “gig economy.” The WGA’s proposed solutions — mandatory staffing minimums and guaranteed weeks of employment — are equally dividing labor and management. Now that contract talks between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have cratered, complex issues are being chewed over by writers who are fired up, walking in circles (literally) and wound up about the long-term employment picture for Hollywood scribes.

Some of Hollywood’s highest paid writers have been noticeably absent from the picket line over the last eight days — that is, until Tuesday.

A trio of SNL greats joined the WGA picket line Tuesday at Silvercup Studios in Queens.

Actors’ Equity Association, the union representing theater actors and stage managers, is inviting its members and allies to join the WGA picket line outside HBO and Amazon offices tomorrow.