The film and television industry is in chaos right now because of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike. And it is definitely a “good for them” situation. Paying people proper wages should be commonplace, and writers (who create the content that studios profit from) should be treated with common decency. Creatives across the industry are staying strong and refusing to cross picket lines. But according to crew members, uber-producer Ryan Murphy will “blackball” crewmembers who refuse to cross the picket lines for American Horror Story: Delicate, American Sports Story, and American Horror Stories season 3.
Ryan Murphy has denied these accusations via a spokesperson, who called them “absolute nonsense. Categorically false.” Does that mean he hasn’t been difficult to deal with before? Of course not. It wouldn’t be the first time that the creators of the content we love have had a problematic history. Before the strikes, folks that have worked with Ryan Murphy mentioned bad experiences. A Black crew member named Kim Alsup who worked on Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story mentioned the nightmare of working on the show. The tweet thread below dives into further details.
Regardless of what Ryan Murphy said, he would be unable to blackball folks if they didn’t cross the line. He can’t legally do that, and it would mean a bucket of trouble if he tried. The IATSE rules say people can’t be fired for striking. Can they be replaced by other folks who aren’t participating though? Yes. Murphy, himself a WGA member, has yet to make any public statements or social media posts regarding the strike.
Kim Kardashian is starring in American Horror Story: Delicate, and it comes as no surprise that she crossed the picket line. But technically, as a member of SAG (which she would have to be to appear in the series), she’s not required to strike. Still, it’s hard to imagine that folks as wealthy as Murphy and Kardashian would care about the strike or labor rights.
But we should, because writers (and all people) deserve a fair living wage. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if you love American Horror Story, American Horror Stories, Pose, or any other Ryan Murphy series. What matters is holding him accountable for not always fostering healthy environments for the crewmembers. As well as the crew members’ potentially true accusations.
(featured image: Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for GLAAD)
