Ellen Crosses Picket Line, Angers Writers

Well, the writers’ strike is on but that didn’t keep Ellen Degeneres from going to work.  When she walked out of the studio the other day after filming her show sans writers someone was heard chanting "Ellen ain’t no friend of mine, she danced across our picket line."

How did Ellen respond?  "Personally, it’s heartbreaking. I love my writers; we’re a family," she said on Friday after starting the show without a monologue. "It’s really hard to have to deal with where they are and where I am because I’m kinda caught in the middle.

"I’m a host and have 135 staff members depending on me for a paycheck each week."

"I’m really just winging it," she added. "I have to figure out how I’m going to walk out there and make people happy."

Us magazine reported that her striking writers are less than pleased with her decision to continue production. 

In a statement released by the Writers Guild of America, East, union leadership says they are "extremely disappointed to see that Ellen has chosen not to stand with writers during the strike."

The statement continues, "Ellen’s peers who host comedy/variety shows have chosen to support the writers and help them get a fair contract, Ellen has not. On her first show back, Ellen said she loves and supports her writers, but her actions prove otherwise."

"We certainly intend to let Ellen know our dissatisfaction in person if she decides to proceed with the shows she has scheduled in New York on November 19th and 20th. We will also make our voices heard the preceding week if she tries to pre-tape comedy segments on location."

"We find it sad that Ellen spent an entire week crying and fighting for a dog that she gave away, yet she couldn’t even stand by writers for more than one day – writers who have helped make her extremely successful."

Wow… sad but true, in my opinion.  Not everyone is against Ellen though.  Read this:

The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) has come to DeGeneres’ defense. "I was absolutely stunned to see a WGA news release…declaring that… Ellen DeGeneres is ‘not welcome in NY,’" AFTRA Executive Director Kim Roberts Hedgpeth writes.

"As you know, AFTRA members such as Ms. DeGeneres…are legally required by the no-strike clause of that contract to report to work and perform their AFTRA-covered responsibilities," she explains.

Hmmm… interesting.  I guess we’ll just have to wait to see how this develops!