Anne Hathaway walks out of Vanity Fair photo shoot in solidarity with Conde Nast union

Anne Hathaway walked out of a Vanity Fair photo shoot Tuesday morning in support of the Condé Nast Union walk out.

Nearly 400 union members who work at Condé Nast are currently holding a 24-hour work stoppage to protest negotiation practices they claim are unlawful.

Hathaway was unaware of the work stoppage when she arrived at the New York City photo shoot. She was still in hair and makeup when her team was notified by a staffer from SAG-AFTRA to advise Hathaway to support the work stoppage.

“They hadn’t even started taking photos yet,” a source tells Variety. “Once Anne was made aware of what was going on, she just got up from hair and makeup and left.”

The work stoppage coincided with the announcement of the 2024 Oscar nominations, which took place Tuesday morning at 8:30 a.m. ET. Employees at Vanity Fair, Vogue, GQ, Allure, Condé Nast Entertainment, Architectural Digest, Glamour, Self, Teen Vogue and other Condé Nast publications walked to hold a rally in front of the company’s offices in New York.

Videos posted to the union’s X/Twitter show protesters holding signs that read, “Layoffs are out of fashion.” They can also be chanting, “Say it loud, say it clear, winter’s extra cold this year,” an obvious play on Anna Wintour’s name.

Last week, Condé Nast merged Pitchfork with men’s magazine GQ — resulting in layoffs at the digital music publication, including the exit of editor-in-chief Puja Patel.

Wintour, Condé Nast’s chief content officer and global editorial director of Vogue, explained the changes in a memo to company staff, writing, “Today we are evolving our Pitchfork team structure by bringing the team into the GQ organization. This decision was made after a careful evaluation of Pitchfork’s performance and what we believe is the best path forward for the brand so that our coverage of music can continue to thrive within the company.”

The Condé Nast Union shared its potential walkout plans last Thursday on X: “Our longest yeah boy ever: Nearly 400 of us have pledged to STOP WORK when our bargaining committee calls for a 24 hour walk out. RT to tell @CondeNast you stand with workers: stop breaking the law, stop union busting, and stop the layoffs. Keep your eyes here for more soon.”

Condé Nast CEO Roger Lynch announced in November 2023 that the company will lay off upwards of 300 employees and take other cost-reduction measures to improve efficiency.