Jon Stewart to pay “Daily Show”, “Colbert Report” writers during the strike
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From Portfolio.com:
Stewart Will Keep Striking ‘Daily’ Writers Afloat
Nov 5 2007 9:53AM ESTIf the writers strike fails, it won’t be on account of Jon Stewart.
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 timeframe.
Thanks to Jeff and the CC Insider for this tip!
UPDATE: Jeff Bercovici has since heard from Jon’s representative stating that the above story is just a rumor, so he’s trying to figure out where the miscommunication happened. It doesn’t make Jon any less of a mensch, but it’s too bad that one of the truly heartwarming stories of the day may have been erroneous. From the updated Portfolio article:
UPDATE, 2:20 P.M.: Confusion: Jon Stewart’s rep just called back to deny the information above. I checked back with my source, who set me straight on a few details: Stewart is not paying writers out of his own pocket, but through Busboy, his production company. And it’s not just writers who are getting their salaries covered but all the shows’ employees. “He’s hoping that it wraps up amicably and quickly, and over the course of that time he wants to look out for his employees,” he says.
But when I ran this by Stewart’s rep, he emailed back, “While I hesitate to knock down every rumor that comes up, the assertion that Jon and/or Busboy Productions will be paying for the staff is false and we have no further comment beyond this at this time.”
I’m pretty sure there’s some truthiness here (sorry), but it may take some more digging to determine exactly what the situation is.
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20 Comments
November 5th, 2007 at 9:09 am
Wow…what a guy! Jon Stewart just went way up in my book. 0_0
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November 5th, 2007 at 9:12 am
What a wonderful, wonderful thing. I have always admired Jon for his tendency to go above and beyond for causes he believes are important, and this is just the latest in a long line of amazing gestures he has made.
Thank you, Jon, for helping me keep my faith in humanity alive.
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November 5th, 2007 at 9:18 am
Another reason to love Jon. Good on him, but then I expected no less from him.
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November 5th, 2007 at 9:23 am
Aww. That’s nice of him.
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November 5th, 2007 at 9:28 am
That’s wonderful. I’m still hoping for some way to contribute to the strike fund, since I won’t be back in NYC for a while yet.
I’m not quite sure how to feel about the second item on that article. Actually, I’d really like to see Stephen interviewing people out of character.
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November 5th, 2007 at 9:50 am
I don’t know. It seems kind of bitchy of the shows to continue without the writers. Like, guess what, we don’t actually need you!
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November 5th, 2007 at 9:57 am
Oh Jon! Yet another reason to love you!
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November 5th, 2007 at 10:02 am
@ Shruti,
IF the strike goes on for an extended period and IF Jon and Stephen decided to restart broadcasts, I don’t think it would be about dissing the writers. Both men clearly have a full understanding of and appreciation for their writing staffs.
The problem is that there are numerous other “below the line” staffers on the shows (cameramen, stage directors, audience coordinators, etc.) who, if my understanding is correct, get “idled” when there’s a strike. I don’t know exactly how it all works out for them, but I think that the longer the shows are off the air, the greater the likelihood is that the studios would begin laying off these employees. Obviously, that would be something that Jon and Stephen would want to forestall.
(If I hear any more details on the other “below the line” workers, I’ll post them. Some of them, though not all, are probably members of a teamsters’ union.)
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November 5th, 2007 at 10:14 am
imoldfashioned says:
Another reason to love Jon.
# Wiki says:
Oh Jon! Yet another reason to love you!
I say:
Ditto!
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November 5th, 2007 at 10:16 am
Would you have time to post this on The Daily Show News Blog, DB? I hate to keep stealing your entries! =)
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November 5th, 2007 at 10:25 am
Aww Jon, you’re the best!
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November 5th, 2007 at 10:32 am
Oh, yay for Jon! That man is a hero. :D I’m also VERY glad to see that the shows might be back in some limited, mostly-interview form if the strike goes on for very long – we NEED those guys during primary season.
Also, John Oliver is picketing: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2007/11/more-news-on–1.html
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November 5th, 2007 at 10:35 am
Oh my god, Jon is so freakin sweet. I love him for doing that. What a great guy he is. :)
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November 5th, 2007 at 10:36 am
Oh wow, that’s great to hear. Very nice of Jon!
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November 5th, 2007 at 10:36 am
Awww, that’s fantastic. He’s wonderful.
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November 5th, 2007 at 12:18 pm
Jon’s a mensch with a capital M!
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November 5th, 2007 at 12:23 pm
That is just totally awesome. Mensch indeed.
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November 6th, 2007 at 9:59 am
Jon is an amazing guy. And he truly loves and respects the people he works with. He stands for them. He believes in them. The WG should take an example from them!
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November 15th, 2007 at 2:43 am
Ah, fooled by the rumour mill… just hang onto the truthiness of it.
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December 3rd, 2007 at 12:20 am
His writers are his peripheral brain so the least he can do is try and cover thier salaries a few weeks, but that will quickly add up and he’s not that rich he can afford it much beyond that. They are probably talking close to 20 writers for the two shows at an average of 100,000 a year is a good 50k a week. within a month that will be 200 grand and it will really start to hurt as he doesn’t get paid as much as the network comedians. The production staff will be wanting to be paid too. I think his salary was 3 mil a year two years ago, so there is only so much he can do. Leno, paid considerably more, is in a similar predicament and has said he will pay his writers a while too, its doubtful either one will be able to pay them much beyond six months out and we are already in the second month of failed sparse negotiations.
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