Will Smith Music Video Shoot Sees Scab Crew Walk Off After IATSE Picketing – Update

EXCLUSIVE – UPDATE: The picket line in front of a Will Smith music video shoot in West Hollywood is coming down.

Edged on by the Oscar winner and his team, the producers and IATSE have reached a deal, I hear.

With the 35-person crew heading back to work at Quixote West Hollywood Studios on the latest single from Smith’s Based On A True Story album, the agreement includes health and pension benefits. Those benefits were a key  component of the dispute that saw Toronto and Miami-based producers Breathe Entertainment send everyone packing on Thursday and bring on a replacement crew today.

PREVIOUSLY, 10:53 AM: A Will Smith music video shoot in West Hollywood is facing union picket lines today after producers pink slipped the entire crew last night.

IATSE is on the street outside Quixote West Hollywood Studios right now after Breathe Entertainment fired the 35-person crew on Thursday over contract dispute. Already on site this morning were replacement workers a.k.a. scabs, who were brought. Now, it seems the replacement crew has walked off the set.

Oscar winner Smith is in the building. However, technically he didn’t cross a picket line as union members were not yet in formation when the King Richard star showed up in his white Lamborghini early Friday, I’m told.

The DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince vet released his first new album in 20 years on March 28. The shoot at Quixote is for a track from that Based On A True Story album distributed by indie label Slang Records, sources say.

Though video shoots do not fall under union regulations, crews can seek guild mandated benefits and recognition – which is what occurred here. Which is why the initial crew was canned.

Fellow Oscar winner Halle Berry was said to be scheduled to show up later today, as we previously reported from multiple sources. However, even with some ex-crew insisting Berry was expected, reps for the Oscar winner got back to Deadline and vehemently denied their client has anything to do with this L.A. shoot. That lack of involvement has now been clarified to be for no other reason than The Union star is in France today at the Cannes Film Festival, where she is a member of the jury.

Spokespeople and agents for the CAA-repped Smith did not respond to requests for comment on the fluid situation when contacted by Deadline. IATSE said that all it would be saying officially right now is what it recently posted on social media.

Breathe Entertainment also did not respond to Deadline’s request for comment on what went down. A spokesperson for Quixote this morning confirmed the union activity outside. However, the much respected and utilized facility also said that it had “no comment” on the Smith video SNAFU as they “are not involved in the production, we’re just renting out the space.”

Alas, sometimes labor laws just don’t understand.