Oscars' strikes tributes highlight labor struggles to come

LOS ANGELES >> Hollywood has been able to put on a show of happiness and something akin to normalcy as it struggles to shake off the effects of the dual strikes and one of the most tumultuous years in industry history.

Yet Sunday's Academy Awards didn't sidestep the labor strife that left its screenwriters and actors out of work for much of 2023. The acknowledgment — prominent amid muted acknowledgment of the strikes during other awards shows this season — comes as behind-the-scenes crews could be next to challenge studios, and video game actors may be weeks from their own strike.

In front of an enormous global audience, Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel devoted part of his opening monologue toward vowing to union members and those working behind the scenes that Hollywood's stars would stand with them — repayment for those workers supporting actors during the strike that brought much of the entertainment industry to a standstill last year.

“We fully support them, obviously, as they did us,” said Fran Drescher, president of the actors guild, told The Associated Press on the Oscars red carpet.

Kimmel took the opportunity to shine an even bigger light on the matter. “For five months, this group of writers, actors, directors, the people who actually make the films said `We will not accept a deal' ... well, not the directors, you guys folded immediately,” Kimmel said during the show, mixing a bit of humor in. “But the rest of us said we will not accept a deal without protections against artificial intelligence.”

That's when he thanked the workers in Hollywood now embroiled in a labor fight of their own, bringing dozens of truck drivers, lighting workers, gaffers, grips and more onto the stage as a thank-you.

“Thank you for standing with us,” Kimmel said. “And also, we want you to know that in your upcoming negotiations, we will stand with you too.”