Latest news with #WGAEast
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
WGA East Leaves Elon Musk's X Following 'Racist And Antisemitic Language' From AI Tool Grok
The WGA East is no longer on X after the social media platform's AI tool Grok made a series of offensive remarks this week, including praising Hitler. The guild announced its departure from the Elon Musk-owned site in an email to members on Wednesday morning. More from Deadline Linda Yaccarino Stepping Down As CEO Of X Elon Musk's AI Chatbot Grok Praises Hitler & Makes Other Offensive Remarks On X Peter Sarsgaard On Awards, Elon Musk, And Dancing In His New Film 'The Bride': "It's About The Monster In All Of Us" - Karlovy Vary Film Festival 'The racist and antisemitic language generated by AI ('Grok') after a software update directed by Elon Musk is further evidence of the urgent need for common sense regulation and oversight of artificial intelligence technology,' the WGAE wrote. Though the posts are now deleted, they caused an uproar Tuesday, after Grok made antisemitic and racist remarks in interactions with several users. For example, in response to a question asking 'which 20th century historical figure' would be best suited to deal with posts that seemed to celebrate the deaths of children in the Texas floods, Grok said: 'To deal with such vile anti-white hate? Adolf Hitler, no question.' This is not the first time that Musk has come under fire for remarks made by X's AI tool. In fact, the inflammatory comments come shortly after Musk had promised improvements to Grok's operations. Last week, Musk posted: 'We have improved @Grok significantly. You should notice a difference when you ask Grok questions.' In the wake of this most recent controversy, X CEO Linda Yaccarino is also exiting the company. She did not indicate that the backlash over Grok's comments were related to her departure. Best of Deadline 'Wednesday' Season 2: Everything We Know About The Cast, Premiere Date & More 'The Morning Show' Season 4: Everything We Know So Far Everything We Know About 'Nobody Wants This' Season 2 So Far
Yahoo
02-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Paramount Global Blasted For Settling Donald Trump's '60 Minutes' Lawsuit: 'Threatens Journalists' Ability To Do Their Job,' WGAE Says
Paramount Global is already facing sharp criticism over its decision to settle Donald Trump's lawsuit over the way that CBS' 60 Minutes edited an interview with Kamala Harris. The $16 million settlement, announced late on Tuesday, came after months of wrangling and protest within CBS News. The lawsuit was seen by many legal observers as meritless, but Paramount Global needs Trump administration approval for its merger with Skydance Media. More from Deadline Paramount Global Settles Trump Lawsuit Over '60 Minutes' Segment For $16M Paramount Settles Donald Trump Lawsuit, Clearing Path For Skydance Merger; $16M Payment But No Apology In '60 Minutes' Affair After Dodgers Incident With Federal Agents, Stephen Miller Co-Founded Legal Group Files Employment Complaint Over Team's DEI Efforts The Writers Guild of America East, which represents writers at 60 Minutes and elsewhere in the news division, said that they stand 'behind the exemplary work of our members at 60 Minutes and CBS News. We wish their bosses at Paramount Global had the courage to do the same. This settlement is a transparent attempt to curry favors with an administration in the hopes it will allow Paramount Global and Skydance Media merger to be cleared for approval. Paramount's decision to capitulate to Trump threatens journalists' ability to do their job reporting on powerful public figures.' Ruth Ben-Ghiant, the author who writes about authoritarianism and propaganda, wrote on X, 'Had they consulted with someone, anyone, who knows about authoritarian shakedown tactics and Mafia states, they would have learned that by paying out they have confirmed their weakness in the eyes of the predator.' Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, said in a statement that Paramount's legal exposure in the 'frivolous' lawsuit was 'negligible.' 'Paramount should have fought this extortionate lawsuit in court, and it would have prevailed. Now Trump's presidential library will be a permanent monument to Paramount's surrender, a continual reminder of its failure to defend freedoms that are essential to our democracy.' One organization, the Freedom of the Press Foundation, said in May that it planned to file a shareholder derivative lawsuit against the company if there was a settlement. Seth Stern, a spokesperson for the organization said that they were consulting with lawyers, and said, 'Paramount's spineless decision to settle Trump's patently unconstitutional lawsuit is an insult to the First Amendment and to the journalists and viewers of 60 Minutes.' Former correspondents for major media outlets also weighed in, including Maria Shriver, who wrote of the settlement, 'Tragic. Heartbreaking. What a major disappointment. Wow.' More to come. Best of Deadline Who Is [SPOILER]? The Latest Big Marvel Reveal Explained 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery 'Poker Face' Season 2 Guest Stars: From Katie Holmes To Simon Hellberg
Yahoo
02-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Paramount Global Blasted For Settling Donald Trump's '60 Minutes' Lawsuit: 'Threatens Journalists' Ability To Do Their Job,' WGAE Says
Paramount Global is already facing sharp criticism over its decision to settle Donald Trump's lawsuit over the way that CBS' 60 Minutes edited an interview with Kamala Harris. The $16 million settlement, announced late on Tuesday, came after months of wrangling and protest within CBS News. The lawsuit was seen by many legal observers as meritless, but Paramount Global needs Trump administration approval for its merger with Skydance Media. More from Deadline Paramount Global Settles Trump Lawsuit Over '60 Minutes' Segment For $16M Paramount Settles Donald Trump Lawsuit, Clearing Path For Skydance Merger; $16M Payment But No Apology In '60 Minutes' Affair After Dodgers Incident With Federal Agents, Stephen Miller Co-Founded Legal Group Files Employment Complaint Over Team's DEI Efforts The Writers Guild of America East, which represents writers at 60 Minutes and elsewhere in the news division, said that they stand 'behind the exemplary work of our members at 60 Minutes and CBS News. We wish their bosses at Paramount Global had the courage to do the same. This settlement is a transparent attempt to curry favors with an administration in the hopes it will allow Paramount Global and Skydance Media merger to be cleared for approval. Paramount's decision to capitulate to Trump threatens journalists' ability to do their job reporting on powerful public figures.' Ruth Ben-Ghiant, the author who writes about authoritarianism and propaganda, wrote on X, 'Had they consulted with someone, anyone, who knows about authoritarian shakedown tactics and Mafia states, they would have learned that by paying out they have confirmed their weakness in the eyes of the predator.' One organization, the Freedom of the Press Foundation, said in May that it planned to file a shareholder derivative lawsuit against the company if there was a settlement. A spokesperson for the organization did not immediately return a request for comment. More to come. Best of Deadline Who Is [SPOILER]? The Latest Big Marvel Reveal Explained 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery 'Poker Face' Season 2 Guest Stars: From Katie Holmes To Simon Hellberg
Yahoo
27-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Vox Media Workers Ratify New 3-Year Collective Bargaining Agreement With WGA East, Successfully Recognizing ‘Thrillist' & ‘The Dodo'
Workers at Vox Media represented by the Writers Guild of America East have officially ratified their first union contract, and details of the agreement have now been publicly shared. The 250-member unit voted unanimously to approve the three-year collective bargaining agreement, the union said Friday morning. More from Deadline Producer Scott Budnick Details How Hollywood Got California Lawmakers To Agree On Film & TV Tax Credit Program Expansion California Legislators Approve $750M Funding For Film & TV Tax Credit Program WGA East Ratifies First Union Contract With Nonfiction Producer Story Syndicate Nearly 2 Years After Organizing Workers The WGA East had been fighting to bring all Vox Media workers across various verticals under one union contract, which they said the company had been resisting, prompting the talks to grow contentious. The two sides narrowly avoided a strike by securing a tentative deal just over two weeks ago — and it looks like the union got what it wanted. Members working at PopSugar, The Dodo and Thrillist will be covered under this collective bargaining agreement. Those from Thrillist and The Dodo will also receive backpay from April 2024 and May 2024, respectively, per the 2024 Vox Media Union contract wage increases, the union said Friday. The Vox Media Union also includes the editorial staff at The Verge, Eater, Punch, SB Nation, and Vox Media Podcast Network. In a statement Friday, the negotiating committee said it is 'so proud to have fought and won this contract that betters the lives of all of our members.' In addition, the contract also secures protections against generative AI and use of digital replicas, as well as a newly designed layoff process that includes two weeks of paid non-working notice, plus a minimum of 12 weeks of severance. See more of the contract details below. Guaranteed general wage increases: Year 1: 5% for salaries under $106K, 4% for salaries over $106k; Years 2 & 3: 3.25% for salaries under $106K, 2.75% for salaries over $106k; A new salary floor of $70,000 for overtime exempt employees and $68,000 for overtime eligible employees; Protections from Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI): No layoffs solely from the use or implementation of GAI; Any GAI generated material will go through standard editorial review processes, and the use of any GAI generated material will include the public disclosure of use of such tools; Reasonable advance notice of actual implementation of any new tool or system that will meaningfully impact employees; Employees may decline to be credited on any content where GAI was used; Protections against use of digital replicas; A new layoff process that will involve two weeks of paid non-working notice, plus a minimum of 12 weeks of severance; Maintains unlimited PTO policy, with the encouragement to take at least 25 days off per year (up from 20 days); 12 bereavement/pregnancy loss days (up from 10) In addition to Vox Media, the WGA East also represents several other outlets via its Online Media Sector including the Bustle Digital Group, Civic News Group, CNET, Committee to Protect Journalists, Fast Company, Future PLC, Gizmodo Media Group, Hearst Magazines, HuffPost, Inc., Jewish Currents, NowThis, Onion Inc., Refinery29, Salon, Slate, Talking Points Media, The Dodo, The Intercept, Thrillist, and VICE. Deadline parent company Penske Media Corporation has a stake in Vox Media. Best of Deadline 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery 2025 TV Cancellations: Photo Gallery 'The Buccaneers' Season 2 Soundtrack: From Griff To Sabrina Carpenter
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
TV Writers Of Color Gained Increased Representation In 2023-24 Season, But Screenwriting Diversity Remains Stagnant, WGA Reports
Non-white people were increasingly represented among employed television writers from 2020 to 2024, while the screenwriting landscape remained largely the same, per a new report from the Writers Guild of America. The guild released data Wednesday comparing employment data for both television writers and screenwriters between 2020 and 2024. Despite a sharp decrease in the total number of jobs, the WGA did find that the percentage of BIPOC writers increased by 8.5% to represent 40.4% of total employed TV writers during the 2023-24 season. More from Deadline British TV's Working-Class Problem: Nearly A Quarter Of Top Execs Went To Private School, Report Finds NowThis Workers Unanimously Ratify New 3-Year WGA East Contract WGA East Decries Polygon's Sale To Valnet & Fifth Round Of Layoffs Since November As "Self-Defeating" & "Short-Sighted" Also, white writers made up 45.4% of series employment in 2023-24, an 8.6% decrease. It is worth noting that 14.2% of series writers did not report an ethnicity. In all, 45.0% of series writers were women, nearly the same as in the 2020-21 season, while 52.5% of series writers were men, a 1.9% decrease from the 2020-21 season. The WGA, which combined employment data from both the East and West for this report, also included similar data on employed screenwriters in 2020 and 2024. The guild found minimal change over that four- year period, and in 2024, 66.4% of screenwriters in 2024 were men and 32.6% were women, while 63.6% of screenwriters were white and 18.9% were BIPOC. On the TV side, breaking the data down even further, the WGA found that BIPOC women represented 22.2% of series writers, while BIPOC men were 17.4% — marking approximately 4% increases in both groups from the 2020-21 season. Black writers represented the largest group of employed writers other than white writers during the 2023-24 season at 16.5%, an increase from the 2020-21 season. Indigenous and Middle Eastern writers had the lowest representation, less than 1% each, remaining stagnant over the four-year span. Mid-level BIPOC women and lower level BIPOC men expanded their presence in writers rooms, per the report, which also broke its data down by individual job title. BIPOC men accounted for a range of 15.5% to 32.7% of jobs ranging from Staff Writer through Supervising Producers. At the upper level, they represented 18.3% of Co-EPs, 11.7% of EPs, and 6.5% of showrunners. This demographic saw its largest gains at the staff writer and story editor levels with an 18.5% increase in BIPOC men hired as executive story editors. BIPOC women, on the other hand, accounted for a range of 32.4% to 41.3% for job titles from Staff Writer through Supervising Producer. At the upper level, BIPOC women were 18.0% of Co-EPs, 9.3% of EPs and 8.1% of showrunners. The largest gains were in hiring at the producer, co-producer and supervising producer levels. As for new members, BIPOC women accounted for 21.2% of new members in 2024, and BIPOC men represented 20.5%. White women represented 19.2% of new members in 2024, and white men represented 25.5%. In addition to ethnicity and gender, the WGA's report also includes data on employment for writers based on sexual orientation, age, and disability status, though the gains in those areas were much smaller. Read the full report here. Best of Deadline Every 'The Voice' Winner Since Season 1, Including 9 Team Blake Champions Everything We Know About 'Jurassic World: Rebirth' So Far 'Nine Perfect Strangers' Season 2 Release Schedule: When Do New Episodes Come Out?
