Occupy L.A.
The Occupy demonstrations, intended to protest corporate greed and corruption, started Sept. 17 on Wall Street in New York and have since spread to Los Angeles and other cities.
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Image Credit: Photo Credit: Chris Godley -
Occupy L.A.
Image Credit: Photo Credit: Chris Godley In October, the L.A. county AFL-CIO told The Hollywood Reporter exclusively that it was endorsing the "Occupy" protests.
STORY: Entertainment Unions Ramp Up Support for Occupy Wall Street
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Occupy L.A.
Image Credit: Photo Credit: Chris Godley The demonstrations have already gotten a couple visits from actors and filmmakers, including Susan Sarandon and Michael Moore.
STORY: Occupy Wall Street: What Hollywood Is Saying About the Protests
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Occupy L.A.
Image Credit: Photo Credit: Chris Godley Actor Mark Ruffalo not only has spoken out about the protests but attended the events in New York. "Fighting for liberty, justice and equality are about as American as you can get. Are you really against that?" he tweeted.
STORY: Occupy Wall Street: What Hollywood Is Saying About the Protests
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Occupy L.A.
Image Credit: Photo Credit: Chris Godley Michael Moore continued to express his support of the protests even after his visit. He wrote: “Wall St is afraid. But we're peaceful ppl. We have other ways 2 stop them.”
STORY: Occupy Wall Street: What Hollywood Is Saying About the Protests
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Occupy L.A.
Image Credit: Photo Credit: Chris Godley In October, the WGA East came out swinging in support of the ongoing Occupy Wall Street protests, with union executive director Lowell Petersen in an exclusive statement to THR praising protesters who have “call(ed) out the people and institutions that created the current crisis — that is, the financial system that has diverted capital from productive enterprise into speculation that bestows huge paychecks on a tiny handful of people."
STORY: Entertainment Unions Ramp Up Support for Occupy Wall Street
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Occupy L.A.
Image Credit: Photo Credit: Chris Godley News of the Occupy protests is gaining media attention. Even with an outpouring of tributes and retrospectives relating to Steve Jobs, news of the Apple co-founder’s Oct. 5 death was still no match for the media coverage of the demonstrations. According to Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism, overall economic coverage accounted for 22% of the week’s news from Oct. 3-9. Up 14% from the week before, the boost is attributed to the current Occupy Wall Street protests.
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Occupy L.A.
Image Credit: Photo Credit: Chris Godley Former Saturday Night Live castmember Victoria Jackson hit the protests in New York in October to grill the protesters. In a 15-minute video, she also vocalizes her beliefs about religion, taxation and illegal immigration.
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Occupy L.A.
Image Credit: Photo Credit: Chris Godley As more Hollywood notables lend their voices to the protests, publicist Howard Bragman is warning his clients to proceed with caution. "There's a lot of empathy in the entertainment industry for the poor and middle class," he says. "But with the message constantly changing among the protesters, no one knows where this is all going to end up. And celebrities are wealthy people, they have to be careful not to seem disingenuous."
STORY: Occupy Wall Street Protests Pose Unique Risk for Stars Who Get Involved
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Occupy L.A.
Image Credit: Photo Credit: Chris Godley Ban and Jerry’s. the Vermont-based ice cream brand, was the first in the corporate world to support the protests. In October, the company released a statement of support from the Board of Directors that read: "We know the media will either ignore you or frame the issue as to who may be getting pepper sprayed rather than addressing the despair and hardships borne by so many, or accurately conveying what this movement is about. All this goes on while corporate profits continue to soar and millionaires whine about paying a bit more in taxes. And we have not even mentioned the environment.”
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Occupy L.A.
Image Credit: Photo Credit: Chris Godley Kanye West probably didn't expect the swift and negative reaction he received from the public after he showed up Oct. 10 at the New York protest. "A capitalist symbol of excess and fetishism, attempting to get some attention at a popular movement," wrote one Tumblr user on the Occupy Wall Street page. Chimed in another, "Didn't Kanye just release an album bragging about being in the [wealthy] 1 percent?"
STORY: Occupy Wall Street Protests Pose Unique Risk for Stars Who Get Involved
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Occupy L.A.
Image Credit: Photo Credit: Chris Godley Celebrity chefs joined the Los Angeles protests in October. Chef Siobhan Tolochko of Oh My! Bakery in Glendale donated baked vegan goods at the protest site on the lawn in front of city hall. Tolochko’s pastries have been enjoyed by the film crews of many Hollywood productions, including, most recently, Burlesque, Iron Man 2 and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Also slated to appear was Chef Theo (real name: Leslie T. Gumbs) — a judge and two-time winner of the Local Chef, Top Chef and Iron Chef competitions.
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Occupy L.A.
Image Credit: Photo Credit: Chris Godley Danny Glover is among the Hollywood notables who have addressed the protesters in Los Angeles.
STORY: Occupy Wall Street Protests Pose Unique Risk for Stars Who Get Involved
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Occupy L.A.
Image Credit: Photo Credit: Chris Godley Tim Robbins, Russell Simmons and Roseanne Barr are among those in Hollywood who have joined in on the protests in New York, while celebrity tweeters including Alec Baldwin and Yoko Ono have cheered from the sidelines.
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Occupy L.A.
Image Credit: Photo Credit: Chris Godley The Occupy Wall Street protestors in October launched a publication, dubbed the Occupied Wall Street Journal — not to be confused with The Wall Street Journal — to share their views. The four-page broadsheet contains only stories about the demonstrations and the goals of the movement.