Over 500 male TV writers sign letters in support of stronger abortion policies from studios

Ryan Murphy, Donald Glover, and Jordan Peele are among the signatures included in a letter to Hollywood executives.

By Savannah Olson  |  August 1, 2022 | 7:58pm
Aux News Abortion
Over 500 male TV writers sign letters in support of stronger abortion policies from studios
Ryan Murphy; Donald Glover; Jordan Peele Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris; Cindy Ord; JC Olivera,

Last week, a group of more than 400 female-identifying TV creators, writers, and showrunners signed a letter demanding Hollywood studio executives craft clear safety policies in their companies for pregnant workers in anti-abortion states. Now, in a new letter obtained by Variety, 594 male TV creators and showrunners have shown their support for the abortion safety policies via signatures sent to the same companies.

Among the list of signatures are well-known creators and writers like Aaron Sorkin (Being The Ricardos), Donald Glover (Atlanta), Greg Daniels (The Office), Jordan Peele (Nope), Rian Johnson (Knives Out), Ramy Youssef (Ramy), Taika Waititi (What We Do In The Shadows), the Duffer Bros (Stranger Things), and Ryan Murphy (American Horror Story). As reported by Variety, this new form of signatures was sent as a reply-all to the original letter, being forwarded to Warner Bros. Discovery, Netflix, Disney, Apple, NBC Universal, Paramount, Lionsgate, Amazon, and AMC.

In their letter, the text included just a few lines of text stating: “We, the undersigned, stand in solidarity with our female, trans & non-binary showrunner colleagues in demanding a coordinated and timely response from our employers regarding the imminent workplace-safety crisis created by the overturning of Roe v. Wade.”

Below that, the letter added, “Abortion access doesn’t only affect people who can become pregnant. It affects us all.”

Arriving in wake of the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court on June 24, the first letter included signatures from creators, showrunners and writers like Issa Rae (Insecure), Ava DuVernay (Queen Sugar), Mindy Kaling (The Sex Lives Of College Girls), Bisha K. Ali (Ms. Marvel), Elizabeth Meriwether (New Girl), Rachel Bloom (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend), Chelsea Handler (Chelsea Lately), Shonda Rhimes (Grey’s Anatomy), and Lena Waithe (The Chi).

A deadline of 11:59 on August 10 has been given by signatories for companies to respond, requiring an “immediate response” due to productions being “currently in progress in states where abortion is illegal or pending criminalization.” The full letter is available to read on Variety.

 
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