David Zaslav had an embarrassing Sunday. The CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery gave an opening speech at Boston University, but it was memorable for all the wrong reasons.
As he reflected on his career, the crowd shouted “Shut up Zaslav” and “We don’t want you here”.
The problem: His speech came during an ongoing strike by Hollywood writers, who want better salaries, new contracts for the broadcast era, and protections from content generated by artificial intelligence. “Pay for your book!” Another hymn was directed his way.
Writers Guild members are on strike because companies, including Warner Bros. Discovery, have refused to guarantee any level of weekly employment in episodic television, attempted to convert late-night writers into a daily rate, obstructed free work on script reviews for screenwriters, and refused to even discuss our proposal regarding the existential threat that AI poses to all writers,” the union later said in a statement, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Actor Sean Bean endorsed the book this week, saying, “There are so many new concepts being thrown around the use of AI that it strikes me as human obscene that there is opposition from producers to it.”
“Some people are going to look for a fight,” Zaslav told the students, drawing boos and cheers. “But don’t be the person they find it with. Focus on the qualities of good people. In my career, I’ve seen a lot of talented people miss out on opportunities or jobs because they can’t get along with other people. You can’t choose the people you work with. Find out what you like in a person — there’s Always something – and do whatever it takes to overcome its challenges. We all have them.”
Some students laughed at the sentiment. Vanessa Bartlett, an alumnus who helped lead a book solidarity event at the university, Tell the Hollywood Reporter: “I’m in the same college as a group of film and TV kids. I’m friends with a lot of people in the College of Fine Arts, people who are in a theater arts program, so a sense of solidarity is very important to me.”
Zaslav also teased audience members when he spoke of his financial success as a lawyer, saying, “I was making good money, I was feeling really great.” That got boos and groans.
Zaslav later said in a statement: “I am grateful to my alma mater, Boston University, for inviting me to participate in today’s Commencement Ceremony and awarding me an honorary degree, and as I have often said, I strongly support the book and hope the strike can be resolved soon and in a way they feel recognizes its value.”