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The Writers Guild, West, is considering bringing a lawsuit to protect its First Amendment rights. And I think every Hollywood guild member should boycott this hell-hole of a shopping mall that houses the Oscars. That’s because a group of WGAW staffers were subjected to “citizen’s arrest” Thursday morning at the Hollywood & Highland complex. At about 9:00 A.M. Thursday, Hollywood & Highland Center security guards abruptly surrounded, detained, and handcuffed WGAW guild organizers Laura Watson (see photo left) and Terence Long, and Assistant Executive Director Jeff Hermanson (see photo below). So what were the activists doing to get themselves hauled off? Simply passing out leaflets during American Idol‘s week of Hollywood auditions there and informing the public that “FremantleMedia refuses to treat its writers fairly”.
The WGAW insists they did not interfere with or obstruct the shopping mall’s operations or the activities of FremantleMedia. But the guild members were turned over to the LAPD, and later released after posting bond. Writers Guild General Counsel Tony Segall said the guild was considering legal action against the operators of the Hollywood & Highland Center for false arrest. The California Supreme Court has held that the state constitution guarantees the right of expression of ideas in shopping malls on the grounds that they’re the contemporary equivalent of the town square. The WGAW notes that other labor unions and community groups have held public actions such as leafleting and picketing inside the Hollywood & Highland shopping complex without incident. (Photo below of leafleting at the mall)
Thursday’s protest was part of the WGA’s ongoing campaign of rallies, briefings, and a nationwide tour to bring attention to what the guild claims are “the substandard industry practices” of American Idol producer FremantleMedia. The American Idol Truth Tour shadowed AI auditions this past summer in several major U.S. cities — including San Francisco, New York, Phoenix, and San Juan, Puerto Rico — to demand that FremantleMedia provide its writers and other workers with industry standard pay and benefits. But yesterday was the first time American Idol Truth Tour participants had been arrested. “We will continue to exercise our First Amendment rights despite the heavy-handed treatment we received,” said the WGAW’s Hermanson. “The public has a right to know that the top-rated show on television does not provide their writers with basic necessities like health care.”
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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Unhappy with the WGA wrote:
>can hire a guy from in front of Home Depot to do for >3 bucks an hour?
Is that how much Fremantle is paying you to be their shill here? Figures, that’s about how much they pay their writers.
“Is that how much Fremantle is paying you to be their shill here? Figures, that’s about how much they pay their writers.”
If that’s the best you can do, I can see why you’re worried about salaries on reality shows. You’d be lucky to get a job writing for one.
Clem, the guards at H&H have the authority to perform a Citizen’s Arrest through the State of California when they get their State certification. So, you go ahead and threaten them with a lawsuit and they’ll happily cuff you anyway and call the LAPD to cart your ass away.
In fact, all it takes is for one patron of the mall to complain about the people handing out the flyers, and the guards can act on it. And all it takes is for one protester to mouth off and be an asshole for the guards to make the decision to go from ‘please leave the premises’ to ‘assume the position’.
Leeroy, I come from a family of lawyers and you don’t know what kind of Hell you’d live through cuffing me for handing out fliers. Sorry, you don’t know what your talking about.
Security guard companies are mandated by the state to carry huge liability insurance bonds because their Fifes get so royally sued every time they tackle or “take someone down.”
I am not a triple poster type of person, but Leeroy, you need help understanding something… when you write, and I quote “the guards at H&H have the authority to perform a Citizen’s Arrest through the State of California when they get their State certification” you must, for your own good, come to understand that they do not actually need to be certified to do that and are conferred any additional powers whatsoever through that certification as it comes to arresting people. Do you understand? A “Citizen’s Arrest” is an arrest conducted by a citizen and ALL citizens have that right automatically without any need for certification. The REASON you get certified is not to confer power, it is so that the state and the guard company have provided a modicum of screening to make sure, as best they can, that the guard understands he is not a cop and cannot tackle people. It is a certification of admission that you do not have power not a certification that you have new power. It is for liability. So, now, do you understand why lawyers get so excited when people call them who have been mistreated by Mall Fifes?
Yes, Clem. I understand. Do you?
As I recall, the Hollywood & Highland mall was built with taxpayer money and tax incentives provided to the developers. The City of LA still runs the parking lot. This is not a private enterprise and Freemantle is not privileged to circumvent the 1st Amendment. As Simon would say, “What the bloody hell was that?”
How come only “WGA Staffers” were arrested? Where were the WGA Members or Reality Writers?
The problem with this effort has always been that the WGA wants it more then the reality writers, until that changes, well nothing else will either.
Someone needs to let Hollywood and Highland know that the Bush Era of Fascism is over. Sue the motherfuckers.
Bush era of fascism? Last I checked Hollywood was 100% in the bag for Obama.
And these strategies worked so well for ATNM. Please. The WGA’s hardcore members don’t care two hoots in hell about the reality writers. That the “leadership” thinks that they can enlarge the union rolls by making reality a fiefdom is a pipe dream.