The students of Boston University did not hold back in telling commencement speaker David Zaslav exactly what they thought of him. Zaslav is the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, the company that owns HBO, and one of the major studios right now refusing to negotiate with the members of the Writers Guild of America, who are on strike in order to secure better compensation, regulations regarding AI, and more.
This might not have been the best time for Zaslav to get in front of a group of young graduates and talk to them about their bright futures in the working world. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Zaslav was interrupted by folks shouting things like, “We don’t want you here,” “Shut up, Zaslav,” and of course, “Pay your writers!” And then there was someone saying, “F**k you, you piece of s**t.” Boston did not hold back in the slightest.
Zaslav reportedly had to stop his speech at points because the “Pay your writers” chants were so loud. It was a very bad look for the CEO.
Incredible photo lol https://t.co/z27kwNC33x pic.twitter.com/h1qygIYJas
— April Wolfe (@AWolfeful) May 21, 2023
David Zaslav is booed at the Boston University commencement speech
Honestly, I can’t blame people for expressing this level of anger toward David Zaslav. He came into his role and completely tore apart the company, canceled movies, wasted money, decided to go all in on the controversial J.K. Rowling, and started the trend of streaming services removing content.
Also, he’s part of the problem that has driven many screenwriters to go on strike, and there may be more to follow. Hollywood is on the verge of a complete shutdown, and we have people like Zaslav to blame.
David Zaslav, let the BU experience be a wake-up call, because this certainly won’t be the last of it!
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h/t The A.V. Club
