The Robert Downey Jr. produced and starring The Sympathizer came and went last year with a lot less fanfare than many expected due to the talent involved and the fact the miniseries was based on Viet Thanh Nguyen‘s Pulitzer Prize winning novel of the same name. However, some unexpected fallout from the Emmy-nominated Park Chan-wook and Don McKellar created and written high-profile project emerged today from the Writers Guild of America West, and it really ain’t pretty.
The acclaimed Oldboy director and the multiple Genie Award winner have both been expelled from the WGA West.
The ejection is result of Park and McKellar crossing a pretty big line. In contradiction of all the rules of Hollywood labor best practices, the duo worked and wrote on the HBO miniseries during the 2023 strike that saw the scribes’ guild and SAG-AFTRA bring Hollywood to a halt for almost six months. The consequences that Park and McKellar have now suffered, as was revealed by the WGAW in a missive to members today, is the harshest the Guild can bring down on members, and in this case, some very high-profile members.
“Three other members were disciplined for violating the strike rules during the 2023 MBA strike, and those members did not appeal,” the WGAW said Friday of Park and McKellar, as well as Anthony Cipriano (who is suspended until May 1, 2026). “In each of these cases, the boards decided these disciplines should be made public.”
Neither the WGAW, HBO, nor reps for the recently Gersh signed McKellar or Park responded to Deadline’s request for comment tonight on the just announced expulsions.
With pencils quickly down, the WGA and its just over 25,000 membership went on strike two years ago from May 2 to September 27 before approving a deal with the studios and streamers. With some overlap with the WGA, the 160,00 member strong SAG-ACTRA went on strike from July 14 to November 9, 2023 before coming to an agreement with AMPTP.
(L-R) Moderator: Viet Thanh Nguyen, Park Chan-wook [and translator], Don McKellar, Robert Downey Jr., Susan Downey, Niv Fichman, Hoa Xuande, Sandra Oh, Fred Nguyen Khan, & Duy Nguyen appear onstage during HBO’s The Sympathizer FYC Event in LA on April 10, 2024 (Photo by FilmMagic/FilmMagic for HBO)
Delayed to some degree like pretty much everything during those hard weeks and months, the seven-episode The Sympathizer debuted on the premium cabler on April 14, 2024, with showrunners Park and McKellar receiving writing credits for the whole Vietnam War centered show. Playing five different roles, sometimes on screen together, Oscar winner Downey was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie at the 76th Primetime Emmys, with the win going to Lamorne Morris for Fargo.
Since The Sympathizer, Park and McKellar have also worked together on the script for the Park helmed upcoming black comedy No Other Choice, which is set to debut in Venice later this month.
Recommended to the WGA Board by the Strike Rules Compliance Committee, the expulsions for far from newbie members Park and McKellar will have little to no effect with No Other Choice. Yet, what this means for the careers of McKellar and Park in Tinseltown going forward doesn’t look good. Sure, the South Korean-born director and the Canadian-born McKellar have the ability to work in the global market, but now they’ve lost the ability to work for Disney, HBO, Netflix and other companies that are signatories to the WGA’s collective bargaining agreement.
Today’s announcement on the hammer coming down on Park and McKellar, who are clearly not appealing or hence disputing the allegations of writing while their fellow members were out of work and/or on the picket lines, comes just over a few months after the WGA made public some other expulsions and disciplinary measures against others. Back in early April and naming names, the Guild announced disciplinary action against six members for alleged unauthorized work during the union’s 2023 strike, as well as one additional member for an alleged violation of the guild’s constitution.
With today’s expulsion of McKellar and Park, plus the action against Cipriano, the WGA says “there are no further strike related disciplines and all Article X proceedings arising from the 2023 strike have concluded.”
To that, according to the WGA constitution, “no suspended or expelled member may be readmitted to membership in the Guild except by action of the Board, which may assess a fine and/or other conditions before readmission.”
Conservative activist and Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk died Wednesday after he was shot at an event at Utah Valley University. He was 31 years old.
A suspect has not been identified, and state authorities said Wednesday evening a “manhunt” for the shooter is still in progress. Two people who were taken into custody earlier were not tied to the shooting and were later released.
Utah Valley University police said they were going “building to building” to evacuate people.
President Trump posted on Truth Social: “The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead. No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us. Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you!”
Kirk was participating in an event at the Orem, Utah, school as part of his organization’s “The American Comeback Tour” when he was attacked.
The university said in a statement shared to social media that a shot was fired at Kirk shortly after 12 p.m. local time, and he was hit. A single shot was fired, two law enforcement sources told CBS News.
Video of the incident showed Kirk speaking to a large crowd at an outdoor “Prove Me Wrong” debate, where he invites students to challenge his political and cultural views, when the shot rings out.
Elected officials on both sides of the aisle had swiftly condemned the attack on Kirk and denounced acts of political violence.
The San Francisco 49ers returned to the practice field on Wednesday with a busy day of roster moves, injury updates, and the first look at a familiar face back in red and gold.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan opened his press conference with an injury list and several starters were held out of today’s practice, either for injuries or rest:
Shanahan said Purdy is a “long shot” to play this Sunday against the New Orleans Saints and acknowledged the quarterback’s toe injury could sideline him for multiple weeks. He later clarified the injury is similar to turf toe, though not in the typical spot.
Tight end George Kittle remains sidelined with a hamstring injury and is expected to miss four games. Shanahan called the absence “a challenge for everybody,” noting Kittle’s impact in both the run and pass game.
On Wednesday morning, the 49ers signed veteran kicker Eddy Piñeiro to a one-year deal. Piñeiro, entering his eighth NFL season, said the decision to join San Francisco was all about joining a winning culture.
“I want to win games,” Piñeiro said. “I want to be part of a good culture. I’m in my eighth year of my career and I want to win. This is the place to be.”
The team also signed TE Messiah Swinson to the practice squad.
WR Kendrick Bourne practiced Wednesday for the first time since rejoining the 49ers on a one-year contract. After spending his first four NFL seasons with San Francisco and the last three with the New England Patriots, he’s leaning on familiar connections to get up to speed quickly.
“(QB Mac Jones) has been helping me get acclimated,” Bourne said. “Studying with him and stuff like that. He’s been just giving me tips, gems, of how to think about things. So, it’s dope to be around somebody that I know and just using it to my advantage to get acclimated… Me knowing him obviously helps. We can speak to each other a certain way, he can get me in certain ways because we’re already connected, which is ironic.”
It’s no small task to join a team on a Monday and be ready to play by Sunday, but Bourne said his experience in Shanahan’s system along with his chemistry with Jones is helping ease the transition.
“I don’t think it’s too much, I think it’s up to me,” Bourne said. “It’s my preparation. I’ve been meeting with (wide receivers coach Leonard Hankerson) Hank extra, meeting with him early, meeting with him every second I get because I’m just getting acclimated, knowing where I’m going to go, different spots, trying to know the concepts and stuff like that. So, I don’t think it’s too much to ask, but it’s up to me. It all it falls on me. So, if I go out there not knowing what I’m doing, it’s because I didn’t study enough and things like that. I’ve been attacking it this week and I’m excited to see what happens.”
The 49ers travel to face the Saints this Sunday in New Orleans. Shanahan recalled the intense atmosphere from the 2019 game at the Superdome:
“That was the loudest game I’ve ever been in. We’re preparing for that and hope to make it quieter.”
NEW YORK — Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison wrested the title of the world’s richest man from longtime holder Elon Musk early Wednesday, according to wealth tracker Bloomberg, as stock in his software giant rocketed more than a third in a stunning few minutes of trading.
A college dropout, the 81-year-old Ellison is now worth $393 billion, Bloomberg says, several billion more than Musk, who had been the world’s richest for four years running. Stock in one of Musk’s biggest holdings, Tesla, has been moving in the opposite direction of Oracle’s, dropping 14% so far this year as of Tuesday.
The switch in the ranking came after a blockbuster earnings report from Oracle powered by multibillion dollar orders from customers as the AI race heats up.
Another news organization with a long history of tallying the world’s richest, Forbes, still has Musk at the top, at $439 billion. Bloomberg put his net worth at $385 billion. The difference is in how the two estimate the value of Musk’s rocket company SpaceX, among other private holdings.
With Ellison’s surging fortune Wednesday, he could fund the lifestyles of 5 million American families for a year, about the entire population of Florida, allowing them to all quit their jobs, assuming the U.S. median household income.
Or Ellison could just tell all of South Africa to take a vacation for year and produce nothing, based on its gross domestic product.
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