![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://uknews.evprotec.com/hollywood-strike-actors-accuse-nbcuniversal-of-turning-up-heat-with-tree-row/&media=https://uknews.evprotec.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/130441375_6aa0bd9df8124761abe2fdaa1ccb405a93ddf6b7.jpg&description=Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock Image caption, Picketers outside NBCUniversal's Barham Gate in Los Angeles last month Film and TV giant NBCUniversal has denied trying to stop striking actors and writers protesting outside its studios by cutting trees that provided shade during blazing temperatures. Treegate, as the row has been dubbed, is a sign of growing tensions between Hollywood studios and artists. Los Angeles city controller Kenneth Mejia said "no tree trimming permits" had been issued for the location. NBCUniversal officials said the work was simply "annual landscaping". But the studio said in a statement to the LA Times that the work had "created unintended challenges for demonstrators". The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Striking screenwriters were joined by actors at the weekend in Hollywood's biggest strike in more than six decades. Members of the Writers Guild of America and actors' union Sag-Aftra have been demonstrating outside one NBCUniversal building, as well as other offices and studios. Sag-Aftra said in a statement to the Hollywood Reporter : "Suspiciously timed construction that has forced picketers into streets without proper safety rails, and now tree trimming eliminating shade during a record heatwave, has forced Sag-Aftra to determine that it cannot safely send its members to picket at NBCUniversal." Media caption, Watch: How the Hollywood strike affects you in 75 seconds NBCUniversal said "the safety tree trimming of the Ficus trees" had not meant to provide a problem for protestors. "That was not our intention," the company said. "In partnership with licensed arborists, we have pruned these trees annually at this time of year to ensure that the canopies are light ahead of the high wind season. "We support the WGA and Sag's right to demonstrate, and are working to provide some shade coverage. We continue to openly communicate with the labour leaders on-site to work together during this time." The BBC is not){kind=link}
Film and TV giant NBCUniversal has denied trying to stop striking actors and writers protesting outside its studios by cutting trees that provided shade during blazing temperatures.
Treegate, as the row has been dubbed, is a sign of growing tensions between Hollywood studios and artists.
Los Angeles city controller Kenneth Mejia said “no tree trimming permits” had been issued for the location.
NBCUniversal officials said the work was simply “annual landscaping”.
But the studio said in a statement to the LA Times that the work had “created unintended challenges for demonstrators”.