Spike Lee, Adam McKay and over 2,000 writers decry Trump’s ‘un-American’ actions in open letter

Screenwriters from Writers Guild of America, also including David Simon and Celine Song, call out president's authoritarian assault' on free speech

More than 2,300 members of the Writers Guild of America, including Spike Lee and Adam McKay, have signed an open letter decrying the actions of Donald Trump's administration that represent an unprecedented, authoritarian assault" on free speech.

The letter, a combined effort from the WGA East and West branches, cites the US president's baseless lawsuits" against news organizations that have published stories he does not like and leveraged them into payoffs". It specifically references Paramount's decision to pay Trump $16m to settle a meritless lawsuit" about a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris. The letter notes that Trump retaliated against publications reporting factually on the White House and threatened broadcasters' licenses", and has repeatedly called for the cancellation of programs that criticize him.