Attention-Starved Zachary Levi Claims that Strike Rules Are 'Dumb'

When the writers’ strike began, I shared a Tweet on my Instagram from a fantastic late-night writer named Ariel Dumas. She tweeted a complaint about AI plagiarizing other people’s work to generate its own. A high school friend of mine copied it, posted it to his own page, and belittled the argument. When I called him out, he said, “I support the writers’ strike no question, but,” and I cut him off right there.

This friend of mine has a substantial Instagram following. If he supported the writers’ strike without question, he could have complained to me privately. He also could have said nothing. Instead, he made a public show out of railing against an objectively reasonable complaint. Since then, he has been much more understanding. I wish someone would have a similar conversation with Zachary Levi.

Levi is the latest in a string of self-centered white dudes to smack-talk the striking methods of SAG-AFTRA and the WGA. First and foremost, the only people who deserve to be criticized are the AMPTP, who have put off negotiating as a way to starve out writers and actors. Even if you’re a coward and don’t want to bad mouth Big Daddy Zaslov, you can not talk about the strike. Instead, Levy wants to make it all about him.

Levi recently appeared at what looks like a convention but sounds like a half-empty dinner theater. The man has big “first time at an open mic” energy. He’s just rattling off half-formed thoughts that he clearly thinks are funny, and the crowd is giving him nothing in return. There is a small smattering of laughter, and that’s more than he deserves.

His biggest gripe is that he can’t talk about the projects he’s been in. It’s a telling complaint. It shows that he doesn’t know how to negotiate. Studios essentially get free promotions when their stars discuss their work. Refusing to talk about your big studio projects shows the studios in question just how valuable their workers are. It also shows that Levi is only concerned about himself.

At the end of the day, Levi will be fine even if he can’t talk about Chuck. Hell, he’s arguably better off if he never mentions Shazam again. There could be an easy way around this. Levi could talk about himself. But he’s smart enough to know that once he stops talking about movies, all that’s left is a transphobic anti-vaxxer who wants to sit backward in a chair and rap about Jesus. Instead, he saw Stephen Amell get loads of attention for being an unrepentant narcissist and thought:

OH HE DIDNT WANT TO BE CHALLENGED https://t.co/QyIVo4PmPj pic.twitter.com/axslh3UPkz

— Alice (@AerithsSeat) August 3, 2023