“Veep” actor Matt Walsh was expected to appear on Season 32 of “Dancing With The Stars” next week. Instead, he’ll take to the wings and take a pause as the Writers Guild of America (WGA) — of which he is a member — continues to strike.
On Sept. 21, the actor announced that he was “taking a pause” as a contestant on the ABC reality series in a post shared to his Instagram story.
“I am taking a pause from ‘Dancing with the Stars’ until an agreement is made with the WGA,” Walsh said in the statement. “I was excited to join the show and did so under the impression that it was not a WGA show and fell under a different agreement. This morning when I was informed by my union, the WGA, that it is considered struck work I walked out of my rehearsal.”
“I have been and will always stand with my union members of the WGA, SAG and DGA,” he continued. “Beyond our union artists, I am sensitive to the many people impacted by the strike and I hope for a speedy and fair resolution, and to one day work again with all the wonderful people I met at ‘DWTS’ who tolerated my dancing.”
Though actors are able to work under SAG-AFTRA’s “Network Code,” members of the WGA consider “Dancing With The Stars” a struck show.
The Network Code agreement allows members to work on Network Television Code productions such as daytime television, soap operas and non-dramatic programs like variety shows, talk shows and reality competition shows.
According to Variety, Walsh is a member of the WGA, SAG-AFTRA and the DGA.
Representatives for Walsh and “Dancing With The Stars” did not immediately respond to TODAY.com’s request for comment.
The dance competition series, which pairs professional dancers with celebrities, is expected to premiere its 32nd season on Sept. 26 on ABC and Disney+.
SAG-AFTRA, WGA and studios have been in their pas de deux of wage negotiations for months.
The WGA has been on strike since May. SAG-AFTRA called its strike in July.
