\n\tMore than 2,300 members of the Writers Guild of America have signed an open letter decrying recent actions taken by President Trump and his administration that they say represent \u201can unprecedented, authoritarian assault.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThe WGA<\/a> East and WGA West union members signing the letter include Spike Lee<\/a>, Adam McKay, Ilana Glazer, Mike Schur, Liz Merriwether and Tony Gilroy.<\/p>\n \n\tThe letter cites Trump\u2019s \u201cbaseless lawsuits\u201d against news organizations that have \u201cpublished stories he does not like and leveraged them into payoffs\u201d; for example, it points to Paramount Global\u2019s agreement last month to pay Trump $16 million<\/a> to settle \u201ca meritless lawsuit\u201d against CBS over a \u201c60 Minutes\u201d interview with Kamala Harris that Trump alleged was deceptively edited. In addition, the letter notes, Trump has \u201cretaliated against publications reporting factually on the White House and threatened broadcasters\u2019 licenses,\u201d and has regularly called for the cancelation of news and entertainment TV shows that criticize him.<\/p>\n \n\tThe WGA letter also says Republicans in Congress \u201ccollaborated\u201d with the Trump administration to defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting \u201cin order to silence PBS and NPR.\u201d The CPB last week announced it is shutting down<\/a> in the wake of the cancellation of federal funding for public media.<\/p>\n \n\tThe FCC, led by Trump-appointed chairman Brendan Carr, \u201copenly conditioned its approval of the Skydance-Paramount merger on assurances that CBS would make \u2018significant changes\u2019 to the purported ideological viewpoint of its journalism and entertainment programming,\u201d according to the letter. On July 24,\u00a0the FCC approved the Skydance-Paramount deal<\/a>, which is expected to close Aug. 7<\/a>. Two days prior to the agency\u2019s approval, Skydance\u2019s general counsel sent\u00a0letters to Carr<\/a>\u00a0promising that Skydance would install an ombudsman at CBS to review \u201ccomplaints of bias or other concerns\u201d and that the company was committed to ensuring \u201cCBS\u2019s editorial decision-making reflects the varied ideological perspectives of American viewers.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThese are un-American attempts to restrict the kinds of stories and jokes that may be told, to silence criticism and dissent,\u201d the letter reads in part. \u201cWe don\u2019t have a king, we have a president. And the president doesn\u2019t get to pick what\u2019s on television, in movie theaters, on stage, on our bookshelves, or in the news.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe WGA members\u2019 letter calls on \u201cour elected representatives and industry leaders to resist this overreach\u201d and for \u201cour audiences\u201d and \u201cevery single person ready to fight for a free and democratic future\u201d to \u201craise their voice.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tIn a statement to Variety, White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers cited reports that CBS\u2019s \u201cThe Late Show With Stephen Colbert\u201d was losing upwards of $40 million per year. \u201cAny business with common sense would cancel the production of a failing product that loses $40 million annually \u2014 which is exactly what Colbert\u2019s show was doing. President Trump is right, everyday Americans don\u2019t want to watch Colbert\u2019s talentless, money-losing show. Protecting the First Amendment is a top priority to President Trump, which is why he signed an executive order on day one to stop federal censorship and protect freedom of speech.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tTrump\u2019s Jan. 20 executive order \u201cRestoring Freedom of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship\u201d alleged the Biden administration \u201ctrampled free speech rights by censoring Americans\u2019 speech on online platforms, often by exerting substantial coercive pressure on third parties.\u201d In a June 2024 ruling, the Supreme Court rejected a Republican-led case claiming the Biden White House illegally coerced social platforms into removing posts about COVID and the 2020 presidential election that were deemed misinformation.<\/p>\n \n\tThe signatories to the WGA\u2019s open letter include: Tony Gilroy (\u201cAndor\u201d), Spike Lee (\u201cMalcolm X\u201d), David Simon (\u201cThe Wire\u201d), Lilly Wachowski (the Matrix triology), Adam McKay (\u201cDon\u2019t Look Up\u201d), Ilana Glazer (\u201cBroad City\u201d), Scott Frank (\u201cThe Queen\u2019s Gambit\u201d), Liz Merriwether (\u201cNew Girl\u201d), Kenneth Lonergan (\u201cManchester by the Sea\u201d), Justin Kuritzkes (\u201cChallengers\u201d), John Waters (\u201cHairspray\u201d), Desus Nice (\u201cDesus & Mero\u201d), Gillian Flynn (\u201cGone Girl\u201d), Celine Song (\u201cPast Lives\u201d), David Mandel (\u201cVeep\u201d), Amber Ruffin (\u201cLate Night With Seth Meyers\u201d), Soo Hugh (\u201cPachinko\u201d), Sarah Sherman (\u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d), Alfonso Cuar\u00f3n (\u201cRoma\u201d), Phoebe Robinson (\u201c2 Dope Queens\u201d), Roy Wood Jr. (\u201cHave I Got News for You\u201d), Winnie Holtzman (\u201cWicked\u201d), Shawn Ryan (\u201cThe Night Agent\u201d), Merrill Markoe (\u201cLate Night With David Letterman\u201d), Mike Schur (\u201cA Man on the Inside\u201d), and Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky (\u201cHacks\u201d).<\/p>\n