Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav gets booed during commencement speech: 'Pay your writers!'

• Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav was met with boos and shouts during his commencement speech.
• Zaslav was speaking at Boston University, where some graduates stood up and turned away from him.

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav returned to his alma mater to deliver its 2023 commencement speech — and was met with boos amid the writers' strike in Hollywood.

Zaslav was interrupted by Boston University graduates who started shouting, "Pay your writers," that can be heard in a clip shared on Twitter by Mike Scollins, a writer for "Late Night with Seth Meyers."

Zaslav is a graduate of Boston University School of Law, and said in a statement after the ceremony, "I am grateful to my alma mater, Boston University, for inviting me to be part of today's commencement and for giving me an honorary degree, and, as I have often said, I am immensely supportive of writers and hope the strike is resolved soon and in a way that they feel recognizes their value."

Zaslav and Warner Bros. Discovery did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Around 100 protestors shouted "no wages, no pages" outside Nickerson Field where Zaslav was giving his speech, and some graduates stood up and turned away from Zaslav during his speech, according to the Associated Press. The AP reported that a plane with a banner reading, "David Zaslav — pay your writers." flew above the graduation ceremony.

The Writers Guild of America, East tweeted that it is "thankful to all the B.U. graduates for chanting "Pay your writers" at Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav while he delivered the #BU2023 commencement address."

Over 10,000 members of the Writers Guild of America in Hollywood have been on strike since the beginning of May, after writers and production studios did not reach an agreement on higher wages — and amid concern about the threat AI could pose to some writing jobs.