Park Chan-wook, Don McKellar Expelled From WGA for Breaking Strike Rules on ‘The Sympathizer’

The Writers Guild of America announced Friday that it has expelled two members, Park Chan-wook and Don McKellar, for writing on their HBO miniseries “The Sympathizer” during the 2023 strike.

Park and McKellar co-created the seven-episode series, which starred Hoa Xuande and Robert Downey, Jr. and was based on the 2015 novel of the same name by writer Viet Thanh Nguyen. It aired in 2024. According to the guild, Park and McKellar did not appeal their expulsions.

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Variety has reached out to representatives for Park, McKellar and HBO for comment.

The WGA also announced that Anthony Cipriano has been suspended through May 1, 2026, for writing on “The Last Breath,” which was previously known as “Untitled True Story Haunting—Thriller Project.” Cipriano was also given a public censure and a lifetime ban on serving as a strike captain.

Park, 61, is a South Korean writer, director and producer best known for films like “Oldboy” (2003) and “The Handmaiden” (2016). His next feature, a Korean production titled “No Other Choice,” will premiere in competition at Venice Film Festival later in August. McKellar is a Canadian actor and filmmaker who wrote, directed and starred in “Last Night” (1998). He has a screenplay credit on “No Other Choice,” which he shares along with Park, Lee Kyoung-mi and Lee Ja-hye.

The WGA previously announced that it had disciplined seven writers for various alleged violations during the 2023 strike. Four of those writers were publicly identified when they chose to appeal, but the other three had remained unidentified until Friday.

In a memo to the membership, WGA leaders said that the board had “decided that the disciplines should be made public.”

The WGA membership narrowly upheld the expulsions of Roma Roth and Edward Drake in May. The members also narrowed approved the suspension of writer Julie Bush. But the membership overturned a public censure of writer Tim Doyle, who was accused of engaging in conduct unbecoming of the guild when he made a joke that was in poor taste on a private Facebook group.

The WGA did not elaborate on the strike violations committed by Park, McKellar and Cipriano. In the memo, the guild thanked the volunteers who had served on the Strike Rules Compliance Committee.

“They investigated dozens of allegations of violations and determined whether there was sufficient evidence to send cases on to the Board for further action,” the leadership stated.

The board and the officers also thanked the members of the various trial committees, who heard testimony and delivered recommendations on discipline to the board.

“All of these members volunteered their time for the delicate but necessary task of holding writers accountable to fulfill their obligations to their fellow members under the Strike Rules, Working Rules and WGAW Constitution,” the WGA said.

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