strike zone

Carson Daly Heroically Avoids Picketing Writer Who Leaped in Front of His SUV

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“Carson Daly Almost Ran Me Over at NBC,” screams the headline of a Saturday post over at Deadline Hollywood Daily. But did Daly actually try to hit someone with his SUV? Probably not.

According to e-mails printed by Nikki Finke, the mêlée went down something like this: WGA West members Adam Waring and Ron Osborn were picketing outside of NBC studios in Hollywood on Thursday when the embattled TV host had the unmitigated gall to arrive to work (Daly’s Last Call returns to air tonight without writers, the first late-night talk show to come back since the strike began). As Daly’s Escalade approached the studio gates, Waring stood in its path while Osborn tried to shove WGA leaflets in the windows. “He slowed down a little, but he kept coming at us,” says Waring. “I finally had to move out of the way, but we all were yelling and pleading with him to reconsider going back to work because he was really hurting our cause, etc. But he didn’t respond. In the meantime, a security guard had appeared, opened the gate and Carson’s car drove on. A big bummer and highly dramatic.”

Yes, yes, very dramatic. A picketing writer jumped in front of his car and he slowed down. We said it before, and since it didn’t kill us last time, we’ll say it again — the attempts to demonize Carson Daly are probably unfair. Unlike other late-show hosts, Daly isn’t a Writers Guild member, so he’s not actually breaking any rules here (unlike Ellen). In the same post, Finke reports that had Daly not returned to air this week, he would have lost his show and, by extension, all the jobs of his striking and non-striking staff. Also, let’s be honest, it’s not like his show will save NBC’s bottom line or anything.

There are plenty of reasons not to like Carson Daly including (but not limited to) his blandness, his taste in women, and the fact that he even has a television show in the first place (we just found out last week!), but this probably isn’t one of them.

Carson Daly Almost Ran Me Over at NBC [Deadline Hollywood Daily]

Earlier: Give Carson Daly a Break!

Carson Daly Heroically Avoids Picketing Writer Who Leaped in Front of His SUV