The MTV Movie & TV Awards are the latest show hit by the Hollywood writers’ strike.
MTV said on Friday that the show would no longer air live on Sunday, May 7, and would instead be pre-recorded. The announcement came just hours after the Writers Guild of America (WGA) published. an alert on Twitter, saying its members would be picketing the awards at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California.
“As we carefully navigate the best way to deliver the first fan rewards show we imagined our team had worked so hard to create, we are moving away from a live event that still allows us to produce a memorable night full of exclusive previews, irreverent categories our audiences have come to expect, and countless moments that will both surprise and delight as we honor the best in film and television over the past year” , said Bruce Gillmer, executive producer of the MTV Movie & TV Awards, in a press release.
Related story: Gina Prince-Bythewood and Drew Barrymore show their solidarity with the WGA writers’ strike
Following MTV’s announcement that the live show was being dropped, the WGA told its members not to bother traveling to Santa Monica.
“WGA’s picket of the MTV Movie & Video Awards has been cancelled”, read a tweet posted Friday at 7:22 p.m. PT.
A day earlier, Drew Barrymore announced she was stepping down as host of the awards in solidarity with the strike.
The WGA launched the strike on Tuesday, May 2, after contract talks with major studios and streamers broke down over salary increases and the role of artificial intelligence in screenwriting projects.
The guild represents 11,500 television and film writers in Los Angeles, New York and other cities.
The WGA accused the studios of “devaluing” songwriting as a profession and turning writers into “gig workers”.
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents the studios, issued a statement on Monday saying it had made a “generous” offer, which was rejected by the WGA.
As previously reported, the strike disrupted production on TThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Late Night With Seth Meyersand Comedy Central The daily show.
This weekend’s episode of Saturday Night Livewhat old SNL Cast member Pete Davidson, who was set to host, was also canceled. Lil Uzi Vert has been booked as a musical guest.