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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had some fighting words for big-shot executives like Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, who made a whopping $498 million in the last five years. The New York politician slammed his “insatiable” greed as she joined the SAG-AFTRA and WGA picket lines earlier today.
While protesting outside Netflix‘s New York City office, Ocasio-Cortez stood up to the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) in what she called the “fight against greed” after its negotiations failed with the unions. Since then, many TV shows and movies have shut down production indefinitely.
“How many private jets does David Zaslav need? For real. How many private jets do the CEOs need?” she asked, per The Hollywood Reporter. “It is insatiable. It is unacceptable. I do not know how any person can say, ‘I need another $100 million before another person can have healthcare.’’
She continued, “What level are we at right now that the only way that we can bust this up is by giving these people in charge a reality check? And by reminding them that if they leave the job, life goes on. But if we leave the job, everything comes to a halt.”
The WGA — which is made up of 11,500 film and TV writers — has been on strike since May 2, while SAG-AFTRA — which represents 160,000 members — joined earlier this month. Both unions are fighting for residuals from streaming companies as well as clear terms on how the industry plans to use artificial intelligence.
“We have workers all across the country either currently on strike or gearing up to be on strike because, at the end of the day, we are all facing the same challenge, which is the concentration of wealth and corporate greed in America,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
She added, “Direct action gets the goods, now and always. The only way that we can do this is by showing them that we are stronger. That our solidarity is stronger than their greed, that our care for one another will overcome their endless desire for more.”
Tatiana Maslany, who starred as the titular character in the Disney+ series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, attended the same strike as Ocasio-Cortez, where she slammed Disney CEO Bob Iger for calling the strike “very disturbing.”
“He’s completely out of touch with the workers who make his shows happen, who make people watch these shows, who bring viewers to him and him money,” she told THR. “Having worked on a Disney show, I know where people fall through the cracks and where people are taken advantage of and it’s outrageous the amount of wealth that is not shared with the people who actually make the show. That’s crew, cast, writers.”
