With no indication of how long the WGA strike will continue, the future of late-night television production hangs in the balance. This uncertainty looms large over not just the hosts and writers of these shows but their crews, who have been unable to work since late night went dark beginning on May 2. (Bravoâs Watch What Happens Live and Fox Newsâ Gutfeld! remain exceptions.) On May 16, HuffPost reported that non-striking employees of NBCâs The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon would begin to see this reflected in their paychecks. Near the outset of the strike, an agreement was reached whereby NBC would compensate staffers of The Tonight Show and Late Night With Seth Meyers for two weeks of the strike, with Fallon and Meyers each personally footing one week of pay in addition. But when this window ends on May 19, employees of The Tonight Show will reportedly be placed on an âunpaid leave of absenceâ for the duration of the strike. Meanwhile, sources told HuffPost that Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel, and Stephen Colbert are âcontinuing to keep their staff paid.â
WGA member Fallon, who has expressed support for his writers and noted he âwouldnât have a showâ if it werenât for them, is bucking a precedent from the 2007 WGA strike, when late-night hosts Conan OâBrien, Jay Leno, David Letterman, and Kimmel all paid their staffsâ salaries while off the air. But when ranking villains, heâs secondary to the networks who forced the WGA into a strike by being unwilling to negotiate a fair deal. Plus, itâs also possible Fallon is a little low on cash at the moment. He did, after all, sink a lot of money into a Bored Ape NFT.