Taylor Swift urged to postpone Los Angeles-area shows
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00:00 A letter was sent by several Democratic politicians to Swift, acknowledging how her concerts are
00:05 helping the region's hotels, of course, but they also say workers are still being hung
00:11 out to dry, and so they don't want her to perform while there's this ongoing hotel strike.
00:16 Let's bring in NewsNation contributor Johanna Maske, joining us from NewsNation, you can
00:21 see there, Los Angeles.
00:23 So Johanna, you got the lieutenant governor enjoying herself.
00:28 Taylor Swift concert, don't blame her for going.
00:31 And then she says you got a post-it note.
00:33 Hypocrisy?
00:34 Well, first I just have to apologize to all of you guys because I know you wanted Taylor
00:39 Swift and you have me.
00:40 No, not at all.
00:43 I'm sorry.
00:44 But yes, I am sitting here the day ahead of this, you know, Swift mania here in Los Angeles,
00:52 and of course we all see the lieutenant governor call on Taylor Swift to reconsider her tour.
00:58 And the likelihood of that is next to nil, right?
01:01 Because we've got six days of a sold out tour, tickets are now going $700.
01:07 But in doing that, she actually raised an issue of Unite Here has been on strike for
01:12 way longer than they expected.
01:14 They expected when they went on strike July 1st, that it would be a few days.
01:19 And now it's August 2nd, and we don't have any resolution.
01:23 And these hotel workers, they're the people who clean the rooms, they're the housekeepers,
01:27 and they are asking for $5 more an hour.
01:31 I don't think it's about raising the issue, right?
01:33 She's the lieutenant governor.
01:34 She can raise whatever issue she wants.
01:36 I think it goes back to sort of the days of Gavin Newsom during COVID going to French
01:44 Laundry and Nancy Pelosi getting her hair cut, right?
01:47 While telling everybody else, you can't do one thing, but me, I'm a high profile politician,
01:52 whatever side of the aisle you are on, and I can do something else.
01:56 I talked to her office earlier today, Blake, and look, she's a Taylor Swift fan.
02:02 But they aren't on strike in Santa Clarita.
02:06 That's a different situation.
02:07 She went to a concert where there isn't a hotel strike.
02:10 There is a massive hotel strike in Los Angeles, such that Gavin Newsom forced the California
02:16 Democrats to move their convention to a different hotel so that he didn't have to cross a picket
02:21 line.
02:22 So, you know, it is a little different than the concert that she went to.
02:27 And I think, you know, in the vein that she is a Taylor Swift fan, I hope that this leads
02:32 Taylor Swift to do something for the workers, to acknowledge their plight, because we have
02:37 seen Los Angeles, you know, you have got -- these workers are living in their car so that they
02:43 can clean your hotel and then driving two hours on a weekend to get to their house.
02:48 We have got to do better for affordable housing and for options, but they are asking for a
02:54 raise, and they are not getting the coverage on that raise.
02:58 >> Johanna, is this rules for thee, but not for me?
03:02 >> You just took my line.
03:03 Absolutely.
03:04 I'm having flashbacks to Gavin Newsom with lobbyists unmasked in the French laundry.
03:09 But this is part of the hypocrisy here.
03:13 I think on some of these really draconian policies or requests that people make to make
03:16 sure that they comply with the picket line, they are telling the families of California,
03:20 don't go and enjoy yourself at a Taylor Swift to honor this union demand, which they support.
03:26 But at the end of the day, when she shows on Instagram her standing there in the stadium
03:30 smiling during the concert, what are these moms and dads going to say to the little girls
03:34 who want to go there?
03:35 >> But there wasn't a strike in that location.
03:37 The strike is in Los Angeles.
03:38 >> Let me ask you this.
03:39 Let me ask you this.
03:40 Let me ask you this.
03:41 The biggest story in sports right now is Shohei Ohtani having the best season in the history
03:46 of baseball ever, ever, ever.
03:47 I'm sure there are people flying into Los Angeles, staying in hotels to go watch the
03:52 greatest baseball season of all time.
03:53 Should Shohei Ohtani be pulled out of the lineup?
03:55 >> Of course not.
03:56 >> Okay, so then what, I mean, but that's, so why aren't they going after Shohei Ohtani
03:59 if they're going after Taylor Swift?
04:00 >> I don't know why they're not doing that, but I will tell you this, that this will put
04:03 some pressure on Taylor Swift and her people to do something.
04:06 I don't think she's gonna cancel the concert.
04:08 Maybe she makes a contribution to a fund to support those workers or to support that strike.
04:12 But she's got six days of concerts.
04:14 And have you looked at the economic numbers?
04:15 >> I have, yeah.
04:16 >> And the boom in Los Angeles and California as a whole.
04:19 So that's a good way to resolve it.
04:21 I don't know whether they will or not.
04:35 coverage.
04:36 [BLANK_AUDIO]