David Zaslav, president and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, has been booed by scores of Boston University students as he gave the school’s commencement address on Sunday in a stadium where protesters supporting the Hollywood writers’ strike picketed outside.
About 100 protesters chanted “No wages, no pages,” waved signs and were accompanied by an inflatable rat outside Nickerson Field as David Zaslav, president and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, gave his address inside the stadium.
Thousands of graduating students, family members, and educators attending the graduation ceremony had to walk by the protesters to enter the stadium.
Above the stadium, a small plane flew a banner that read, “David Zaslav — pay your writers.”
READ ALSO: Actress Amber Heard Reportedly Quits Hollywood, Moves To Spain With Her Daughter
Kim Caramele, a writer and producer from North Stonington, Connecticut, said she hoped the protesters’ presence at the graduation ceremony helped give students a different perspective on what they should value in life.
“The writers being here today can help show the students that wealth is different than good,” said Caramele, a winner of Emmy and Peabody awards for work on her sister’s show, “Inside Amy Schumer.”
Inside the stadium, scores of students wearing red graduation gowns stood up during Zaslav’s speech and turned their backs on him. Other students booed during his speech and shouted in support of the striking writers.
Zaslav, a graduate of the university’s law school in the mid-1980s, was a contentious pick, with many alumni taking to social media with their objections.
In a statement after the event, Zaslav said: “I am grateful to my alma mater, Boston University, for inviting me to be part of today’s commencement and for giving me an honorary degree, and, as I have often said, I am immensely supportive of writers and hope the strike is resolved soon and in a way that they feel recognizes their value.”