David Zaslav Gets Booed at Boston University Graduation Amid the Writers Strike

The head of Warner Bros. Discovery took the stage in Boston for the commencement speech for the class of 2023.

Bad choice. Bad timing. Bad juju. When Boston University decided to invite David Zaslav to speak at graduation ceremony amidst the backdrop of the writers strike … well …

Per the Hollywood Reporter:

David Zaslav was met with boos and angry chants from students after taking the stage at Boston University on Sunday to accept his honorary degree and give the 2023 commencement speech.

Those cries began as early as the Warner Bros. Discovery CEO’s introduction by BU President Robert A. Brown during the 150th commencement exercises at Nickerson Field. As Brown spoke to Zaslav’s “passion for documenting and sharing the human story on a global scale,” the chants and booing immediately picked up, followed by what would become a constant ebb and flow of calls throughout his 20-minute speech.

That included screams, shouts and chants from the hundreds of seniors seated as 7,000 degrees were conferred in nearly 350 fields of study Sunday at the event, which started at 1 p.m. ET. “We don’t want you here,” “Pay your writers” and “Shut up, Zaslav” could be heard emanating from the crowd.

Netflix and Zaslav appear to be the two biggest targets of strike. Perhaps it has a little something to do with Zaslav’s reported CEO earnings in 2022 of about $246.6M while cutting costs to the Max.

[See what I did there?]

This quote from Zaslav’s speech is the height of irony:

“I am immensely supportive of writers and hope the strike is resolved soon and in a way that they feel recognizes their value.”

Dude, you could help resolve the strike in a split second if you accepted modest Guild proposals which do, in fact, recognize the value of writers in a way you clearly understand: monetary income.

For the rest of the Hollywood Reporter article, go here.

For the latest updates on the strike and news resources, go here.