5 late-night TV hosts come together for new podcast to help raise funds for striking writers

Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers and John Oliver are part of the podcast called "Strike Force Five" to raise funds for their striking staff writers. According to the BBC, the hosts were the first to go off-air when writers went on strike in May. This all-star lineup of late-night television hosts will speak about Hollywood's ongoing labor disputes and will take turns as hosts appearing on each episode. They will "navigate the Hollywood strikes and beyond" and provide "an inside look at late-night television", according to Spotify, which added that the idea came from private weekly discussions about the strike. Those conversations have been described by Spotify as "hilarious and compelling."

Nearly 11,500 members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) went on strike after failing to reach a new labor agreement with major Hollywood studios. Later they were joined by the SAG-AFTRA actors union, Hollywood's largest union with 160,000 members, per Reuters. "Strike Force Five" is available on most major podcast platforms and will run for at least 12 episodes, the proceeds from which will go to the writers of the respective late-night shows: “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” “Late Night with Seth Meyers” and “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.”

The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) have been on strike since July 14, demanding equitable pay. Many celebrities have come forward to support the strike. Bryan Cranston delivered a rousing speech in early August at the Rock the City for a Fair Contract SAG-AFTRA rally in Times Square addressing concerns over AI, dwindling residuals from streamers and the potential lack of future jobs. The fiery speech also included a message directed at Disney head Bob Iger.

“We’ve got a message for Mr. Iger,” the 67-year-old actor said. “I know, sir, that you look [at] things through a different lens. We don’t expect you to understand who we are. But we ask you to hear us, and beyond that to listen to us when we tell you we will not be having our jobs taken away and given to robots. We will not have you take away our right to work and earn a decent living. And lastly, and most importantly, we will not allow you to take away our dignity! We are union through and through, all the way to the end!”

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson also made a historic seven-figure donation to the SAG-AFTRA Foundation amid the strike. SAG-AFTRA Foundation president Courtney B. Vance and executive director Cyd Wilson confirmed Johnson's donation to Variety. "We rely on donations and grants to provide services — we have been very fortunate that we raised enough money to be able to cover all of our programs," Wilson explained. "But when we hit a crisis like this and we're going to spend millions and millions of dollars in financial assistance, this is when we need our high profile talent who can afford it, who are in a situation to help others." The Rock's massive donation is said to be the largest lump sum the foundation has received from a single donor since its creation in 1985, a representative told HuffPost, calling it a "milestone."