Former President Barack Obama voiced support for striking Hollywood creatives.

 

During a panel promoting his new Netflix docuseries "Working: What We Do All Day," Former President Barack Obama voiced support for striking Hollywood creatives.  Prior to the panel, Obama made some prepared remarks about the WGA strike, saying "My hope would be that in a time of big technological change, where you've got big mega corporations that are doing really well, that they keep in mind the creative people who are actually making the product that consumers appreciate and that gets exported all around the world." Obama had made a previous mention of the strike on Instagram on May 16, in a post that was also promoting the Netflix series; the new comments were seen as more forceful and aggressive than his original remarks. Obama and his wife, Michelle, have an overall Netflix deal through their company, Higher Ground Productions; they both executives produced the "Working" series, while the former president also hosts and provides narration. The series was inspired by the 1974 Studs Terkel book "Working," and features conversations with everyday Americans about their jobs and thoughts on employment more generally. The Writers Strike is now in its fourth week.