12/1/2007

Susie Kopecky

Late night show host Conan O'Brien is reportedly paying about 80 of his show's workers, out of pocket.

Late night show host Conan O'Brien is reportedly paying his workers, out of pocket. As the Writer's Guild of America strike continues, O'Brien's move acts to protect the jobs of non-writing staff members who otherwise may get the boot, as new shows have not been shown for nearly a month. According to E! News, O'Brien's announcement follows in the footsteps of David Letterman, whose production company recently announced that it will be paying the salaries of workers on his show and fellow CBS late night host Craig Ferguson's show as the Writer's Guild of America strike continues. O'Brien will be paying out of his own pocket to insure that about 80 of his show's staff and crew members are not given the axe. It was announced on November 30th that close to 80 non-writing staff members on Jay Leno's late night program would be fired as the strike continues and NBC has been airing reruns of the show since November 5th. E! also reports mixed reactions to Carson Daly's return to his show this week. Daly was quoted as happy to have supported his four guild members, but is no longer willing to jeopardize the jobs of about 75 other workers on his show: "As a non-WGA member I feel I have supported my four Guild writers and their strike by suspending production for a month."