Update: Stewart's Rep Denies He's Paying Writers Out Of Pocket During Strike

Portfolio:

In a show of solidarity with his fellow scribes, the Daily Show host has told his writing staff that he will cover all their salaries for the next two weeks, according to a well-placed source. He has also vowed to do the same for writers on The Colbert Report. A Comedy Central spokesman referred my inquiry about this to Stewart's personal publicist, who has yet to respond.

Stewart's intention, says the source, is to ensure his writers will face no financial hardship should the strike, which kicked off at 3 a.m. local time, conclude within that time frame.

Read more news about Jon Stewart and the WGA Writers' Strike, as well as the Huffington Post's regularly updated Writers' Strike Opinion page.

Read the whole story: Portfolio

Comments

[lovethesinner]

Jolly good show, Stewart! (I mean, paying the writers during the strike.) Goes to show that working stiffs can have lots of class.

I wonder how Tucker Carlson feels about all this? (will he go back to wearing bow-ties?)

[zull2]

Hilarious...a little off base, but there's a google ad I'm seeing with the title "Stewart: Fair or Biased?". What does it matter? It's comedy news. Sure, there's a lot of good content, but it doesn't try to push itself as "fair and balanced". Why some idiot would make a poll like that is beyond me...and why anyone would vote on it is almost as bad.

That said, Stewart's a good guy. He's also been a writer, and I'm sure he probably understands why writers are going on strike. This would be the equivalent of a music studio taking a band's song, paying the band for recording it and telling them they are only selling it on a cd. Then, turning around and pimping it out to ad agencies, putting it on a music download site...you get the idea.

[Wiredwilly]

Good. Now get everyone else to strike to protest everything else.

[TimmySlagle]

Here's the REAL question:

Are the writers still working for him?

There's a nasty word for people who cross a picket line...

[mikelartist]

This unselfish act will be sure to roil the cold blood of the right wingnut bloggers that have been salivating over this strike all week as a death knell to shows like the Daily Show. Show's they love to pan as "ill informed" and "communist".

A brilliant and kind man Mr. Stewart is.

[wagonjak]

When we have to look to comedians for the integrity our politicians like Feinstein and Schumer lack...

THIS COUNTRY IS IN REAL TROUBLE!!!

Thank you Jon, for standing up for a minimum level of decency and accountability...

[Martskers]

Doesn't anyone see this for what it is---encouraging strikers to cross the picket line (literally or figuratively).

If his writers accept this special deal, they'll still be scabs, and they will incur the justifiable wrath of the writers who can't get the same special treatment from the rest of an industry that's made its bread by grinding writers' bones. If I were them, I'd think twice before I abandoned my brothers and sisters on the picket line. It is only solidarity and a united front that will get the powerful entertainment industry to recognize the importance of writers.

The fact is, writers are paid a pittance compared to what the greedy media empires they work for (and the "stars" who mouth the words they write) make. They deserve their fair share of the pie.

Stewart is doing nothing but encouraging strike-breaking conduct by giving his writers this special deal, and, I suggest, he's doing it for far less than charitable reasons.

Remember, if his writers strike, he goes off the air, his advertisers stop paying the freight, he loses audience share, and to the extent his income is dependent on ratings, that goes in the crapper as well. All of that's a powerful incentive to pay to get his writers to ignore the picket line.

P.S. I'm not an entertainment industry writer (or a member of their union), but I am a believer in collective bargaining, and what Stewart is doing is inimical to that process.

[Cappy]

OK, let me get this straight, if the people writing TV fiction are on strike, does that mean FOX News will go into reruns?

[HedgeApple]

Jon Stewart is a mensch (a particularly good person) in the finest tradition of the word.

Proud of you, Jon. Thank you for this gesture of appreciation and solidarity with your writers - it speaks volumes!!!

[groucho]

Why can't we have politicians with values like Jon?

[GeoNorth]

Jon Stewart is one of the good guys.

[JCP]

And for all of us here who make more than the writers, or other union workers, are we also willing to pay money to support the unions? I suspect not. I think what Jon is doing is admirable, especially when I know I could do the same thing and choose instead my comfortable existence.

[sonofsamstone]

Stewart is the living embodiment of a Mensch. Hooray for him, and good for us.

[Smartypants]

Apparently The Daily Show is totally menschful. NPR just had a short interview on the picket line with John Oliver, TDS writer/cor­respondent (sorta like a waiter/actor, all growed-up). Will Stewart and Colbert join the picket line too?

[Ramus]

Stewart and Colbert have probably been preparing for this for awhile. Colbert's best selling book was written by him and his writers and I'm sure they are all getting money for that. And both of them are selling DVDs of their shows. The writers for both these shows save my sanity and I am very glad that Stewart and Colbert are taking good care of them. OF COURSE the writers should get a good percentage of internet/web revenues for their work. The writers are right.