Jimmy Fallon blasted for allegedly skipping meeting amid writers' strike
Sarah Kobos, a senior photo research coordinator for “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” slammed the late-night host Tuesday, claiming he skipped out on a daily production meeting over pay amid the Hollywood writers’ strike.
However, a “Tonight Show” insider told The Post that neither Fallon, 48, nor “Late Night” host Seth Meyers, 49 — whom Kobos later mentioned — are typically not in those particular meetings.
The Writers Guild of America (WGA) announced in the wee hours Tuesday that its 11,500 screenwriter members in California, New York and other cities will refuse to work after the union and studios failed to agree on a new three-year contract after their current one expired just after midnight.
In the wake of the strike, Fallon’s “The Tonight Show,” “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and “Late Night With Seth Meyers” have all been shut down.
On Tuesday, Kobos, a non-union member who is not striking, quote tweeted a video of Fallon at the Met Gala on Monday night, in which he told Variety: “I wouldn’t have a show if it wasn’t for my writers, I support them all the way.
“They got to have a fair contract and they got a lot of stuff to iron out and hopefully, they get it done,” he added.
The WGA strike means late-night shows — including “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” — have stopped production. Rosalind O'Connor/NBC via Getty Images
“… whatever I can do to support the Guild,” Fallon claimed. “I am actually in the Writers Guild as well.”
However, Kobos took issue with his supposed show of solidarity.
“He wasn’t even at the meeting this morning to tell us we won’t get paid after this week,” Kobos reacted to Fallon’s interview. “@jimmyfallon please support your staff. Had fun bowling with ya last week, but a fun party won’t pay my rent.”
“Staff AND crew***** I should say!” she added in another tweet.
In a statement to The Post, Kobos explained her need to open up about the issue.
“I posted the tweets because my coworkers and I are concerned about our livelihoods and health, and are lacking answers from management,” she wrote in a direct message. “I support my coworkers who are striking and think it [is] foul how the rest of the staff and crew are being treated. We love our jobs and hope for change if there is enough attention on the issue.”
The Post has contacted the Writer’s Guild for comment and also reached out to representatives for Fallon, Meyers and Jimmy Kimmel about how they plan to support their staff writers during the strike.
“Tonight Show” staffer Sarah Kobos spoke out against Fallon on Tuesday. skobos/Twitter
Workers and supporters of the Writers Guild of America protest outside the Netflix offices after union negotiators called a strike for film and television writers in Los Angeles. REUTERS
Kobos continued in her Twitter rant that “the rest of the staff and crew” were told in the alleged Fallon-missed meeting that NBC had decided to stop paying them and end their health insurance coverage if the strike continues into June.
“They won’t even tell us if we will technically be furloughed. Just active employees who aren’t paid,” she claimed.
Kobos also alleged that meeting attendees were instructed that they “shouldn’t vent to coworkers.”
An insider told The Post that neither Jimmy Fallon nor Seth Meyers would typically attend the production meeting cited. skobos/Twitter
“I’m told Seth Meyers was in their zoom production meeting and that he is going to try and take care of his staff and crew after NBC stops paying,” she further stated about the “Late Night” host.
Meanwhile, another insider told The Post that Meyers was pulled into the production meeting only after it was announced to the staff that the show was shut down.
The previously announced May 6 episode of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” hosted by Pete Davidson with musical guest Lil Uzi Vert has also been subsequently canceled.
Jimmy Fallon, Gigi Hadid and Karen Elson attend the 2023 Met Gala Celebrating “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty” on Monday, May 1. Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
This is the first WGA strike in 15 years.
Back in 2007, then-late-night hosts Conan O’Brien, David Letterman and Jay Leno all dug into their own wallets to pay for their staffers idled by the writers’ strike.
During the production pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, late-night hosts James Corden and Trevor Noah did the same thing and paid their employees out of their own pockets — as did Fallon and Meyers, a source close to their shows told The Post.
Kimmel paid his stagehands with his own money during the initial COVID-19 shutdowns before ABC began paying all staff their full rates upon their return.
Source: New York Post
