Joan Rivers Needs To Pay Attention
About 200 protesters gathered outside E! headquarters on Wilshire Boulevard Thursday at 11:30 to support striking writers on the network’s talk show “Fashion Police.” The hour-long rally was boisterous and featured speeches by about half a dozen writers from the show and elsewhere. Chanting “Joan Rivers, can we talk?” and “What do we want? Contract! When do we want it? Now!†the protestors are asking for both increased wages and benefits. The rally was organized by the WGA.
Writers on Fashion Police have been on strike since April 17 seeking a WGA contract, with the support of both the WGA East and WGA West. They’ve also filed claims for a total of about $1.5 million in unpaid wages and overtime with the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement against E! and against Rivers’ production company, Rugby Productions. The show is hosted by Rivers, Giuliana Rancic, Kelly Osbourne and George Kotsiopoulos.
