Lil Wayne is on the side of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) writers, who are going into their fourth week on strike. Groves of the talented creatives, who help bring shows and films to life for the big and small screens, have been picketing since contract negotiations for livable wages between the guild and Hollywood studios fell through on May 2.
Thousands of people have been pounding the pavement outside of Netflix offices, NBCUniversal, Paramount, Sony, Amazon, and other Los Angeles studios and production sites. Outside conditions have not deterred creators, and luckily, neither has hunger. On Thursday (May 25), Lil Wayne made sure that lunch was provided for those on the picket line outside of Warner Bros. in Burbank. The “Love Me” rapper showed support in a major way when he sent a Fatburger food truck to the location to hand out grub. The philanthropic artist has not addressed his recent act of giving on social media, but several writers have in the form of tweets.
Lil Wayne is far from alone in his efforts to help out the writers. Countless celebrities have not only joined their industry peers in holding signs and joining in on chants for better pay, but they have also provided meals. Stars such as Jay Leno provided donuts days into the strike. Flavor Flav showed up with performance energy and pizzas in tow on May 18.
The last time WGA writers went on strike was in 2007. The movement lasted 100 days and resulted in an estimated revenue loss of $3 billion in LA. In the end, members of the union secured residuals from streamed content as well as WGA protections for writers hired for web-based shows and films. This time around, strikers’ demands include improved residual pay, restrictions on the use of AI, and preventing studios from interfering with job stability with their use of micro-writer rooms.