Dermot Mulroney Walks Off ‘The View’ In Solidarity With Striking Writers
Actor Dermot Mulroney, promoting his new Disney+ Marvel series Secret Invasion, walked off the set of ABC’s The View in an episode airing today, expressing his support for striking WGA writers.
Leaving the stage before the end of his interview segment – the show, as is usual for summertime Friday episodes, was taped yesterday – Mulroney said, amiably and apologetically, “Are we going to break? I want to do this symbolically. In support and solidarity for the writers, I’m going to walk off your show. Thank you, I’ll see you on the picket lines.” As he left the stage, he turned, waved and said, “Love you, thank you.”
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The co-hosts, including today’s moderator Joy Behar, did not seem surprised. Behar looked into the camera and repeated Mulroney’s name and that of the new Marvel series. After coming back from the commercial break, the show went to a segment on swimsuits. The walk-off was not mentioned again.
Prior to the seemingly expected walk-off, Mulroney and the co-hosts discussed his past movies – including a friendly debate on the merits of My Best Friend’s Wedding versus The Wedding Date, as well as the actor’s recent camping trip reunion with old friends in Virginia.
Regarding Secret Invasion, on which Mulroney plays President Ritson, the actor said that beyond his scenes with Samuel L. Jackson and Don Cheadle, he was not privy to other plot aspects of the alien invasion tale.
Disney owns both Marvel and ABC. The View aired the entire pre-taped episode, complete with Mulroney’s walk-out.
During the 50-day-plus WGA strike, the unscripted The View has continued airing daily shows without writers, with moderator Whoopi Goldberg – who, as is often the case on Fridays, was not on set for today’s episode – typically explaining to viewers that the co-hosts are not reading writer-written introductions or lead-ins.
Mulroney had also appeared on NBC’s Today on Wednesday for his Secret Invasion promotion. He posted an Instagram selfie from the set of Today, noting “taken live on air on @todayshow (news show – no WGA writers).”
In a statement to Deadline’s sister publication Variety, Mulroney said, “Since I have such respect for ‘The View,’ a news program with a heart, it was there that I felt comfortable enough to draw attention to the ongoing WGA strike for fair wages and working hours, as I find it incredibly important to continue to support the union.”
Source: Deadline
