Fallon, Kimmel, Colbert and more assemble to create a podcast to support striking late-night staffers
The five major late-night show hosts are banding together to financially help out their currently unemployed staffers who have been on strike since the onset of the writers’ strike in May.
Jimmy Fallon, John Oliver, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel and Seth Meyers are Voltron-ing together for the Spotify limited podcast “Strike Force Five.” The idea for the program, which premieres Wednesday, came after the group decided to meet every week as the writers’ strike got underway and realized that their conversations seemed compelling and entertaining.
The series is scheduled to have a 12-episode run, with each member of the cohort participating in every episode. The host of each episode rotates among the comedians. Although the main topic of the show is the Hollywood strikes, the TV funnymen will also delve into other topics.
Signaling increasing frustration with the Writers Guild of America, Hollywood studios took the unusual step of publicizing their latest offer to the guild.
“All proceeds received by the hosts from ‘Strike Force Five’ will go to out-of-work staff from the hosts’ respective shows, ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,’ ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,’ ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live,’ ‘Late Night With Seth Meyers,’ and ‘Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,’” Spotify said in a statement. Some of the hosts had previously pledged to give their staffs some pay during the strike.
The announcement comes as tensions are high between the Writers Guild of America and Hollywood executives after the studios took the unusual step of publicizing their latest offer to the guild last week.
The 2023 writers’ strike is over after the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers reached a deal.
Also, in June it was announced that former “Daily Show” host Trevor Noah had inked a deal to host a new show for Spotify.
The podcast, which will begin streaming on the app later this year, will release episodes weekly and feature conversations between Noah and “some of the most influential and interesting figures around the world,” the streaming giant said in a statement.
“We are excited to collaborate with Trevor to create an original podcast that seamlessly combines his unique humor, insightful commentary, and consummate interview skills on a global scale,” Spotify’s podcasting lead, Julie McNamara, said in the statement.
The announcement of Noah’s deal came just a couple of weeks after Spotify laid off 200 employees, roughly 2% of its staff. Most of the layoffs were in the podcasting division, which is undergoing restructuring. In January, the Swedish-based tech giant trimmed its staff by 6%, or roughly 600 people.
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