Once a magazine woman, always a magazine woman — even if you just played one in a movie. Variety reports that Anne Hathaway walked out of a Vanity Fair photoshoot today upon learning that VF staffers were among the hundreds of Condé Nast workers participating in a 24-hour work stoppage. According to Variety, Hathaway did not know about the Condé walkout when she arrived at the shoot. Someone from SAG-AFTRA apparently contacted her team, advising that she support the stoppage and leave the shoot.
“They hadn’t even started taking photos yet,” one source told Variety. “Once Anne was made aware of what was going on, she just got up from hair and makeup and left.” Gotta admit, that’s an awesome move from an A-list star, especially one who is real-life friends with Condé big boss Anna Wintour.
The Condé union walked out Tuesday morning, coinciding with the announcement of the Oscar nominations. Per the NewsGuild, workers are protesting the “unlawful handling of layoff negotiations and bad-faith bargaining” from Condé Nast in the past month. Back in November, Condé management announced its plan to layoff 5 percent of its workers. According to the union, they countered with a plan for fewer layoffs and more severance, but Condé came back with a proposal that included its initial number of layoffs and less severance than initially offered.
Of course, Hathaway sort of understands what it’s like to be jerked around by a legacy media organization. Imagine what a union rep would say upon hearing that your boss made you track down an unpublished Harry Potter book in order to keep your job. That can’t be legal.