John Oliver Talks SAG-AFTRA Strike Ending & Questions If He Needs Movies Anymore – Deadline
John Oliver started off Last Week Tonight talking about the SAG-AFTRA strike ending but then questioning if movies were still needed.
“The SAG strike finally ended meaning that movies will be back in production,” Oliver said on his HBO talk show. He then joked, “Although to be honest, I’m not even sure I need movies anymore.”
The late-night show host said that he’s been captivated by a 17-minute video of what he describes as “a hamster Gatsby living its best life.” Oliver proceeds to present the video of a hamster playing around and sliding off a slide.
“It’s a complete masterpiece,” Oliver noted.
He goes on to call “Barbenheimer” as something that he liked and was “fine” adding, “To be honest, it’s just not as good as” the hamster video.
Earlier this week SAG-AFTRA reached a deal with the studios that ended a 118-day strike. The new three-year deal would allow actors to get back to work and revitalize Hollywood to resume on productions that have been on hold.
Following the deal, SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher said, “We got the protections we needed in AI. We got the funds that we needed for the new revenue stream. That was the two biggest outstanding pieces.”
“It was really important to us, that we got the protections we felt that we absolutely needed to sustain this contract until the next one,” she added. “I mean, there’s still things that we’re already working on to get for the next contract, but there are so many milestones in this one.”
