“Can’t wait to get back to work”: Mindy Kaling, others celebrate tentative deal in writers strike

After 146 days, the Writers Guild of America announced a tentative deal with representatives for the major studios and streamers, and Hollywood is celebrating on social media.

While details of the deal won’t be shared “until the last ‘i’ is dotted,” the writers union told its members Sunday evening, September 24, “We can say, with great pride, that this deal is exceptional – with meaningful gains and protections for writers in every sector of the membership.”

The guild had been fighting over residual payments from streaming shows, pushing back against AI in the writing process, and other issues.

While the WGA urged “patience” while the deal is being codified, strikers took to social media to celebrate.

Mindy Kaling posted, “TENTATIVE AGREEMENT B******! CAN’T WAIT TO GO BACK TO WORK AND SEE MY PEOPLE!!!” along with “prayer hands” and a thank you to the Writers Guild of America West. She celebrated by posting a meme from her old show, The Office, in which Steve Carell‘s Michael Scott noted, “I love my employees even though I hit one of you with my car.”

Justine Bateman, who has been an outspoken presence during the strike, expressed, “Netflix Strike Captains, YOU ARE THE ABSOLUTE BEST. We need a closing moment.”

Heroes‘ Greg Grunberg said, “MAZEL TOV! Writers Strike Deal!!!” while former Mrs. Maisel writer Josh Gondelman kept with that theme, noting, “This is probably the happiest I’ve ever felt on Yom Kippur.”

Abbott Elementary Emmy winner Sheryl Lee Ralph expressed her congratulations, noting the SAG-AFTRA strike is still on, and its members remain, “committed in solidarity to achieving the necessary terms for our members when its [sic] our time back at the table.”

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