THE WALKING DEAD WILL LEAVE GEORGIA IF ANTI-LGBT LAW PASSES
If Georgia passes an anti-gay “religious liberty” bill on May 3, the state stands to lose billions of dollars in revenue. Not just because of the loss of extravagant, amazing gay weddings but because a fleet of major Hollywood players have joined the Walt Disney Co. and its Marvel Studios film unit in threatening to boycott Georgia should the bill be signed into law.
As of Friday, all of the following companies have spoken out against the bill: Viacom, 21st Century Fox, Lionsgate, CBS, Starz, AMC Networks (megahit The Walking Dead is currently filmed in Georgia), Netflix, Time Warner, CBS, The Weinstein Company, Sony, Comcast/NBCUniversal, MGM, STX Entertainment, and Open Road Films.
The legislation before Gov. Nathan Deal (R) is House Bill 757. It would prevent individuals from being forced to perform or attend same-sex weddings (if you’re curious, yes, that is a right already guaranteed by the First Amendment; no one can make you attend a wedding, be it gay, straight, or dog); allow faith-based groups, including churches and religious schools, to refuse employment and service to anyone who violates the group’s religious beliefs; and permit those groups to deny employment to anyone “whose religious beliefs or practices or lack of either are not in accord with the faith-based organization’s sincerely held religious belief.”
Most of the statements released by these companies leave some wiggle room as far as follow-through is concerned; it's the rare company in Hollywood that will actually use the word "boycott" when such phenomenal tax incentives are on the table. Disney said they "will plan to take their business elsewhere should any legislation allowing discriminatory practices be signed into state law," though, and on Thursday, Netflix announced that, though the company just shot two films and a series (The Do-Over, True Memoirs of an International Assassin, and Stranger Things) in the state of Georgia "and had planned on filming two series there in the coming months, should any legislation allowing discriminatory practice be signed into state law, we will move our productions elsewhere."
Some of the strongest language came from The Weinstein Company on Thursday; the company threatened to move a Lee Daniels film on Richard Pryor, currently slated to shoot in Georgia, outside of the state. "The Weinstein Co. will not stand behind sanctioning the discrimination of LGBT people or any American," the statement read. "We have plans in place to begin filming Lee Daniels' new film in Georgia later this year but will move the production if this unlawful bill is enacted. We hope Governor Deal will veto bill H.B. 757 and not allow sanctioned bigotry to become law in Georgia."
Viacom -- parent company of Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, MTV, Spike, VH1, and Paramount -- issued a statement on Wednesday, emphasizing both how "proud" the company is "to champion diversity and acceptance" and "urg[ing] Governor Deal to continue to resist and reject the patently discriminatory laws being proposed." AMC also avoided the b-word, saying instead that "AMC Networks believes that discrimination of any kind is reprehensible. We applaud Governor Deal's leadership in resisting a previous version of this divisive legislation and urge him to reject the current version as well."
March 25, 2016
IS THIS THE END OF GEORGIA FOR
THE WALKING DEAD?