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The Hollywood Reporter first reported the
incident on Sunday. Boston University did not immediately
respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Thousands of members of the Writers Guild of America went on
strike on earlier in May after the union failed to reach a deal
with Walt Disney Co, Netflix Inc and other media companies for
higher pay and safeguards around the use of artificial
intelligence in the streaming TV era.
Zaslav, who is an alumni of the school, was repeatedly disrupted
by angry chants and boos from Boston University students,
including cries of “we don’t want you here” and “pay your
writers”, the report said.
"I am grateful to my alma mater, Boston University, for inviting
me to be part of today's commencement and for giving me an
honorary degree, and, as I have often said, I am immensely
supportive of writers and hope the strike is resolved soon and
in a way that they feel recognizes their value," Zaslav said in
an emailed statement to Reuters.
The Writers Guild of America had earlier said they would be
picketing the ceremony when Boston University announced Zaslav
would be giving the commencement speech at the graduation, the
report added.
The writers' strike has disrupted production of late-night shows
and some TV series, but some filming is continuing.
The last WGA strike in 2007 and 2008 lasted 100 days. The action
cost the California economy an estimated $2.1 billion as
productions shut down and out-of-work writers, actors and
producers cut back spending.
(Reporting by Jyoti Narayan in Bengaluru; Editing by Aurora
Ellis and Stephen Coates)
(Photo: David Zaslav arrives for the Time 100 Gala celebrating
Time magazine's 100 most influential people people in the world
in New York, U.S., June 8, 2022. REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs)
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