Current:Home > Markets'Jeopardy!' champs to boycott in solidarity with WGA strike: 'I can't be a part of that'-LoTradeCoin
'Jeopardy!' champs to boycott in solidarity with WGA strike: 'I can't be a part of that'
View Date:2025-01-11 13:17:02
The new season of "Jeopardy!" won't have any writers if the current Writers Guild of America strike isn't resolved soon. And it looks like it won't have champions for a tournament, either.
Ray Lalonde, who won $386,400 over 13 games last season on the iconic game show, qualifying for the series' yearly "Tournament of Champions," has stated publicly that he will not participate in any tournament that is produced during the strike.
"I believe that the show's writers are a vital part of the show and they are justified in taking their job action to secure a fair contract for themselves and their fellow WGA members," Lalonde wrote on Reddit and Facebook. "I will not cross a picket line to play in the tournament of champions."
Lalonde also emailed his intentions to "Jeopardy!" producers, although he told USA TODAY in a phone interview Tuesday that he has yet to hear back.
The Reddit and Facebook posts quickly received support from other "Jeopardy!" champions, including 21-time winner Cris Pannullo, eight-time winner Hannah Wilson, six-time winner Troy Meyer and nine-time winner Ben Chan.
“Ray really stuck his neck out there by being the first one,” Wilson, who won $229,801 over eight episodes this spring, told the Washington Post. “I don’t want to be in a scab tournament."
Lalonde first began thinking about refusing a tournament invite when he saw reports on social media that "Jeopardy!" may resume filming without its striking writers. "My immediate reaction was if they’re going to do that, I can’t be a part of that," he says. After emailing his "Jeopardy!" contacts he decided also to post his intentions publicly. "I thought other people might be struggling with the same thing and maybe I could have other people sign on."
"Jeopardy!" writers, responsible for the clues that hosts Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik read out in each episode, are members of the WGA and have been on strike since May along with the rest of their union. The game show completed its 39th season with clues the writers completed before the strike began. However, Bialik (a member of actors union SAG-AFTRA, now also on strike) stepped away from hosting in solidarity with the WGA, with Jennings stepping in as full time host. "Jeopardy!" is due to start filming a new season soon, including special events like the "Tournament of Champions."
No end is in sight for the WGA's strike, nor for the recently called SAG-AFTRA strike. The sides are far apart on the details of the contract, and no new talks between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which bargains on behalf of the studios, have been scheduled. The double strike, the first in Hollywood since 1960, has virtually ceased all scripted film and TV production in the United States and in many places around the world.
"They’re trying to bargain in good faith and it seems like the (studios) are more or less trying to break them instead of continuing negotiations. They’re just saying no," Lalonde says. "I’ve been on both sides of that being in a union my self. I’ve seen negotiations go well and negotiations go poorly. If I can put a little pressure on my little corner of the world … that’ll be good."
USA TODAY has reached out to representatives for Sony Pictures Entertainment, which produces "Jeopardy!," for further comment.
Hollywood writers are on strikeWhy? What that means for you
veryGood! (57)
Related
- Chris Pratt and Katherine Schwarzenegger welcome their first son together
- Michael Oher, Subject of The Blind Side, Speaks Out on Lawsuit Against Tuohy Family
- Old Navy Under $20 Finds – $13 Leggings, $13 Bodysuits, $5 Sweaters & More Unbelievable Deals
- Fantasy football draft cheat sheet: Top players for 2024, ranked by position
- Engines on 1.4 million Honda vehicles might fail, so US regulators open an investigation
- 17,000 AT&T workers in Southeast strike over contract negotiations
- Paul Mescal Seemingly Confirms Romance With Gracie Abrams During London Outings
- Phil Donahue, who ruled daytime talk for years until Oprah overtook him, left a lasting imprint
- Trading wands for whisks, new Harry Potter cooking show brings mess and magic
- At Democratic Convention, UAW head threatens strike against Stellantis over delayed plant reopening
Ranking
- Inter Miami's MLS playoff failure sets stage for Messi's last act, Alexi Lalas says
- Sicily Yacht Survivor Details End of the World Experience While Saving Her Baby Girl in Freak Storm
- Periods don’t have to be painful. Here’s how to find relief from menstrual cramps.
- PHOTO COLLECTION: Election 2024 Harris
- After years of unrest, Commanders have reinvented their culture and shattered expectations
- Two 18-year-olds charged with murder of former ‘General Hospital’ actor Johnny Wactor
- Taylor Swift brings back 2 cut songs, sings another for 10th time in acoustic section
- MLB power rankings: World Series repeat gets impossible for Texas Rangers
Recommendation
-
Sean Diddy Combs' Lawyers File New Motion for Bail, Claiming Evidence Depicts a Consensual Relationship
-
Taylor Swift Meets With Families Affected by Stabbing Attack at Event in England
-
DNC comes to 'Little Palestine' as Gaza deaths top 40,000
-
South Dakota Supreme Court denies bid to exclude ballots initially rejected from June election
-
Giuliani’s lawyers after $148M defamation judgment seek to withdraw from his case
-
A Path Through Scorched Earth Teaches How a Fire Deficit Helped Fuel California’s Conflagrations
-
Ex- NFL lineman Michael Oher discusses lawsuit against Tuohy family and 'The Blind Side'
-
Phil Donahue, whose pioneering daytime talk show launched an indelible television genre, has died