Hollywood has been losing jobs in California.
Posted by On with Kara Swisher, Checked
- Sources
- 6 support2 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 85%
On with Kara SwisherAug 10, 2026
Multiple sources, including Reuters citing Milken Institute data (California shed 17,234 entertainment positions 2019–2023), CBS/BLS (roughly 40,000 California film and TV jobs lost in 2023), Variety and CalMatters (73,000 U.S.
Our two reads of who says this, and how, disagree, so it counts as the post's own claim.
This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.
What was said
… I've always been strong. I've been very i mean, I just talk about that on my Fox show all the time. I'm going to end with talking about Hollywood very quickly, about what's going, because there's so much going on. Hollywood has been bleeding jobs in California, especially true in the years since the pandemic and the strikes. The state is trying to lure those jobs back with more tax incentives. You want to make those incentives even bigger, but incentives can also be a race to the bottom, as you know. …
On with Kara Swisher · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. Reuters reports California has been especially hard hit, shedding 17,234 entertainment positions from 2019 through 2023 per the Milken Institute, with employment declining since its late-2022 peak.[1]
Supports. CBS News reports California lost roughly 40,000 film and TV jobs in 2023 per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and FilmLA data show steep declines in LA television production.[3]
Supports. Variety reports America lost 73,000 production jobs since 2022, two-thirds in Los Angeles, a figure CalMatters repeats.[2][4][5]
Supports. Lever News reports California shed roughly 114,000 entertainment jobs between 2022 and 2025, about 14% of the industry workforce.[6]
Context. Sources published after the claim date (Oct 2026 Fox/WFMD and Yahoo reports) continue to describe declining production, so the trend was ongoing and not reversed by the claim date.[7][8]
Sources
8 sources: 1 fact-checker, 1 primary, 1 tier 2, 5 not rated
- 1Hollywood workers rally against Paramount-Skydance dealreuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
- 2Variety: Hollywood's Mass Exodus - Why Film and ... - Laura Friedmanfriedman.house.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
- 3Concern grows over whether Hollywood's film and TV ...cbsnews.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports
- 4Hollywood's Mass Exodus: Why Film and TV Production Is Fleeing L.A. and What Can Be Done About Itvariety.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 5Paramount-Warner Bros. deal won't fix Hollywood's woescalmatters.org · not rated · cited for: supports
- 6Hollywood’s Hangoverlevernews.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 7Hollywood star sounds alarm over disappearing jobs as ...wfmd.com · not rated · cited for: context
- 8Hollywood film production in decline despite CA tax ...finance.yahoo.com · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
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