The writers on E!’s show Fashion Police went on strike this week, with one writer calling it a “joke sweatshop” and demanding a Writers Guild contract, along with $1.5 million in back pay.
The Guild is with them, prohibiting their members from working for the show until the network has reached an agreement with its writers.
A few years ago in 2010, almost none of the networks shows had contracts with the Writers Guild but that changed last summer when The Soup and Chelsea Lately were awarded contracts with the Guild, after the hosts stood up for them.
“Our paychecks say 8 hours,” one of the writers, Elizabeth Skinnner. “We make $500 for writing an episode.” Skinner said of a day like the Oscars or the Golden Globes they worked, “until whenever they release us, which is anywhere from 4:30 in the morning to 7:30 in the morning — again, we still only get paid for 8 hours.”
There are 12 writers on the Fashion Police staff, including Rivers, and eight of them have walked off the job.
“We all respect Joan and like working with her and working for her. She’s a comedy legend. She’s very funny, but yeah, so far she has not supported us,” Skinner said.
E! released a statement yesterday saying, “Joan Rivers has gone on record repeatedly that she supports the Fashion Police writers and wants a fair agreement for them.”
