(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) Universal Studios cut back trees that were providing protesting Hollywood writers with shade, sending the hordes of striking picketers into a blind rage, Breitbart reported.
The Writers Guild of America picket line rested under a line of ficus trees on Barham Boulevard, which groundskeepers recently trimmed way back, effectively cutting off all of the foliage.
The studio contends no foul play with a recent tree-trimming, while SAG-AFTRA says it has determined "that it cannot safely send its members to picket at NBCUniversal" https://t.co/lHxTxyh2jS
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) July 19, 2023
Chris Stephens, a comedian and TV writer, speculated that the studio trimmed the trees as “a deliberate move … to make things a little more uncomfortable for everybody, right when the pressure got turned up.”
A spokesperson for the company explained that while the company did trim the trees, it was a regular part of their groundskeeping routine and not an intentional move to attack the writers on strike.
“We understand that the safety tree trimming of the Ficus trees we did on Barham Blvd. has created unintended challenges for demonstrators,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “That was not our intention.”
NBCUniversal offered the strikers water and pop up tents as a replacement for the lost foliage.
However, the WGA Board of Directors took the trimming of the trees as an attack against the union.
“You don’t trim or prune trees in mid-July in the middle of a heat wave,” said board member Eric Haywood, according to the Washington Post. “Those trees were butchered.”
Despite the heat wave and newfound lack of shelter, Haywood and the WGA expressed their determination to continue until they achieve their goal.
The Hollywood Reporter said protesters had lodged a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, and L.A. City Controller Kenneth Mejia announced an investigation into the matter.
“Our Office is investigating the tree trimming that occured outside Universal Studios where workers, writers, and actors are exercising their right to picket,” Mejia tweeted. “The trimmed trees are LA City managed street trees.”
Our Office is investigating the tree trimming that occurred outside Universal Studios where workers, writers, and actors are exercising their right to picket.
The trimmed trees are LA City managed street trees.
(Before and after photos below) pic.twitter.com/xczw0bTdh9
— LA City Controller Kenneth Mejia (@lacontroller) July 19, 2023
Others noted “suspiciously timed construction,” along with other inconveniences supposedly spurred to discourage the protests.
Although the writer’s strike has been in effect since early May, few may have felt its impact due to the industry’s tedious lack of creativity and the rapid emergence of artificial intelligence technology that threatens to supplant its human counterparts.
However, it garnered additional steam last week when the Screen Actor’s Guild announced it, too, would be striking in solidarity.
The industrywide shutdown could potentially open opportunities to independent, non-woke production companies that do not rely on union labor such as Angel Studios, which was responsible for the summer’s breakout blockbuster Sound of Freedom.
Meanwhile, entertainment industry opportunists already are trying to use the strikes to conceal an even larger concern with audiences—and conservative ones in particular—rejecting and boycotting their socially conscious pap.
Major filmmakers such as Disney have witnessed a succession of flops but continue to double-down on their virtue-signaling.
Now, some leftist media, such as the Associated Press, are suggesting that the poor box-office returns may not be a repudiation of the shoddy screenwriting after all. Rather, audiences are simply protesting in solidarity with the writers.
“Am I crossing the picket line by seeing one of those movies?” the AP offered as a hypothetical concern in an “explainer” about the strike.
While it commended such acts of selflessness, it concluded that they were unnecessary when the better solution would be to go see their crappy movies—and also to send them money, which helps prevent them from writing more crappy movies, albeit temporarily.
“No, the unions have not asked fans to boycott productions, and are quick to make that explicit,” the AP noted. “Instead, the guilds have asked supporters who aren’t members to post on social media and donate to community funds.”
Headline USA’s Ben Sellers contributed to this report.
