Writers and actors are currently striking in Hollywood and it has brought the entertainment industry to its knees.

Big celebrities and unknown workers behind the scenes have taken to the streets outside of film studios to picket and protest for more money…and it’s safe to say that the bigwigs at Hollywood studios are not too pleased with the sight of picketers outside their buildings.

Strikers accused NBCUniversal of putting construction materials on sidewalks to disrupt picketers and two protesters were even struck by a car because of obstructed sidewalks.

Well, it seems like the studio heads weren’t satisfied with those tactics so they decided to up the ante: workers accused Universal of trimming trees on a sidewalk so picketers would no longer have shade protection from the blazing sun in L.A.

Quick shoutout to the good people at @UniversalPics for trimming the trees that gave our picket line shade right before a 90+ degree week. pic.twitter.com/aZvvPYQ23i

— Chris Stephens (@ChrisStephensMD) July 17, 2023

The move got a lot of people talking and a tree expert on TikTok talked about why there was “no non-malicious, practical reason to have cut those trees like that.”

Take a look at what he had to say in his video.

@lucasthelorax #stitch with @Pat Loller #arborist #hollywood #losangeles #sagaftra #writersstrike #greenscreen #tree ♬ original sound – Lucas The Lorax

But the shady move might have backfired because some people pointed out that these trees were actually on city property…oops.

OH SHIT SON

THOSE TREES ARE CITY PROPERTY

IT MIGHT BE TREE LAW TIME https://t.co/oaoFWQQaNv

— Nome (@NomeDaBarbarian) July 17, 2023

This person was into the idea of “tree law” needing to be enforced.

insanely into picket line tree law guy pic.twitter.com/UY7PFN4VUc

— madd (@madfrieza) July 17, 2023

And it turns out that all the tree law talk was right on the money because the City Controller for Los Angeles posted a tweet saying that the tree trimming by Universal is now being investigated.

A spokesperson for Universal 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.”

Hmmmm….

Our Office is investigating the tree trimming that occurred outside Universal Studios where workers, writers, and actors are exercising their right to picket.

The trimmed trees are LA City managed street trees.

(Before and after photos below) pic.twitter.com/xczw0bTdh9

— LA City Controller Kenneth Mejia (@lacontroller) July 19, 2023

Stay tuned to see how long these strikes continue!

Let’s hope they’re resolved sooner than later!