Even the most versatile actors out there have no interest in taking on the role of scab.
The Screen Actors Guild announced Friday that, to maintain solidarity with striking Hollywood writers, none of this year's 72 acting nominees will attend the 65th Annual Golden Globe Awards.
"After considerable outreach to Golden Globe actor nominees and their representatives over the past several weeks, there appears to be unanimous agreement that these actors will not cross WGA picket lines to appear on the Golden Globe Awards as acceptors or presenters," SAG President Alan Rosenberg said in a statement.
"We applaud our members for this remarkable show of solidarity for striking Writers Guild of America writers."
The possibility of a red carpet-as-usual seemingly just went from slim to none. Designers everywhere are weeping into their crepe de Chine.
Rosenberg went on to encourage SAG members to forego appearances on NBC and ABC's late-night offerings for either The Late Show with David Letterman or The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on CBS, both of which returned to the air Wednesday with their writing staffs intact.
Getting chatted up by Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien or Jimmy Kimmel would involve crossing a picket line, Rosenberg said, "creating the same situation that has led to the consensus among actors to skip the Golden Globes."
"As I have said since this strike began on Nov. 5, we must stand united with our brothers and sisters at the WGA," his statement concluded.
And the WGA, for one, sounds very pleased with the latest turn of events.
"We are grateful to our brothers and sisters in SAG for their continued solidarity and support," WGA West president Patric Verrone said in a statement. "The entire awards show season is being put in jeopardy by the intransigence of a few big media corporations. We urge the conglomerates to return to the bargaining table they abandoned and negotiate a fair and reasonable deal with writers to put this town back to work."
NBC, the Globes' network of choice this year, said Monday that the Jan. 13 will air in prime time as scheduled. It isn't known yet whether SAG's decision will change things, but it will undoubtedly put a damper on any hope for big ratings—unless at-home viewers are particularly interested in what a star-less awards ceremony looks like.
In the meantime, industry trades are speculating that the kudosfest is going to be postponed. Indeed, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and Dick Clark Productions are scrambling to somehow make it work.
"The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has been placed in an extremely difficult position with the ongoing Writers Guild strike," HFPA president Jorge Camara said in a statement. "We are making every effort to work out a solution that will permit the Golden Globes to take place with the creative community present to participate. We hope to announce a resolution to this unfortunate predicament on Monday."
While producers expressed hope early Thursday that an interim deal with the WGA might be reached that would allow striking scribes to contribute scripted nuggets of humor and sentiment to the Globes, à la the arrangement made with Letterman's Worldwide Pants Inc., the writers quickly shot down the idea.
"Dick Clark Productions is a struck company. As previously announced, the Writers Guild will be picketing the Golden Globes," read the WGA's to-the-point statement.
The union has granted waivers permitting writers to contribute to the 14th annual SAG Awards on Jan. 27 and the 2008 Independent Spirits Awards Feb. 23.
Clark's company isn't enjoying its seeming odd-man-out status, either.
"We are disappointed that the WGA has refused to bargain with us in good faith. It is apparent that we are being treated differently from similarly situated production companies," the Globes producer lashed out Friday in a statement.
In a joint letter to NBC Universal chief executive Jeff Zucker, a group of top public relations firms reiterated their clients' appreciation for the Hollywood Foreign Press and how they "would love the opportunity to be recognized for their work," but said that the actors will only show up if the WGA, NBC and Dick Clark Productions can cut a deal.
"After much discussion with our clients, we have concluded the vast majority of the talent we represent are not comfortable crossing a picket line," the publicists said.