♪ this is "nightline." >> tonight, labor pain. the hollywood strikes drag on. and it's not just writers and actors feeling the impact. >> it's very embarrassing to feel like i'm a grown person who can't pay my bills. but i know i'm not the only one. >> byron: at a-listers like margot robbie -- >> here to support the union as a proud sag-aftra member. >> byron: and oscar isaac show

solidarity, trickle-down effects are pushing some to the brink. >> people were desperate in the beginning. >> byron: how long until a breakthrough? sue is ye. the contractor and a legal clash with kanye west. >> i said, are you trying to kill me am? >> byron: what he says about working on ye's unusual beach house. from allegations of dangerous conditions and unpaid wages -- >> just pay the people you owe money to. you have billions of dollars. >> byron: to unpredictable behavior. >> "if you don't do what i ask you to, do you're an enemy." >> byron: will his case hold up in court? i have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. thanks to skyrizi i'm playing with clearer skin. 3 out of 4 people achieved 90% clearer skin at 4 months. and skyrizi is just 4 doses a year after 2 starter doses. serious allergic reactions and an increased risk of infections or a lower ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms,

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at kaiser permanente all of us work together to care for all that is you. ♪ >> byron: good evening. thank you for joining us. the two sides in the hollywood writers strike will be back at the bargaining table tomorrow after a pause in negotiations. but hopes for a swift resolution aren't exactly high as the dual actor and writer strikes wear on. the impact is reaching deeper and deeper into a community that relies on lights, camera, and action. here's abc's matt gutman. >> reporter: jess ikes wasn't planning on leaving l.a. any time soon. and at this stage in life, she

definitely didn't think she'd be moving back in with her folks in vero beach, florida. >> it's very embarrassing to feel like, i'm a grown person who can't pay my bills. but i know i'm not the only one. >> reporter: she's "the industry" as they call it in l.a. even though she's not a writer or actor, the ongoing strikes in hollywood have left her out of work for months. leaving her to pack up over 20 years of memories. >> i have to think about what will fit in a 10 by 10 storage unit? so that has been stressful. >> reporter: ikes is one of hundreds of thousands who have done the work that have helped hollywood tick. working as location manager on shows like "the dropout." >> what if you could test in your own home? what if it wasn't a whole vial but just a drop? >> reporter: and "hacks." >> it's going to be hard to work together if we can't

communicate. >> we don't work together, you work for me. >> reporter: most people think, oh, people in hollywood, they must be actors, producers, writers. what is it you do? >> sometimes i scout. i'll do the contracts, agree agreements, negotiate the price. once we get the location set, then i find parking lots, crew parking, base camp parking, truck parking, put in the permits, kind of like being an event planner but planning a wedding every week. >> reporter: when sag-aftra joined picket lines in july, the industry had already been reeling for months from the domino effect of the writers strike. >> i know that this strike is not easy. in fact, it's hard. it's very hard. and with the passing of time, it's going to even get harder. >> reporter: and just last week, a show of force as a-listers hit the picket lines. >> here to support the union as a proud sag-aftra member. >> reporter: margot robbie, oscar isaac, kal penn, john cho, among the biggest names to join

in solidarity. actors, writers, makeup artists, crew members fighting as one as the sag-aftra and writers guild strikes rage on. thousands of people like jess are having a hard time making ends meet. >> i was collecting unemployment, which is helpful but not survivable, $450 a week. that is not a lot. so yeah. i borrowed money. i got money from my dad. i got -- my aunt randomly sent me a check. i did food stamps for the first time. >> reporter: between the wga and sag-aftra, over 170,000 people are out of work. while jess isn't in either union, she's one of more than 700,000 californians included in the industry. >> this has affected everyone, top to bottom. it's not just writers and actors. it affects sound editors that

work on these shows, it affects production designers who build the sets, cinematographers who shoot, ed tors who put these shows together. >> reporter: both unions have their own contracts and lists of demands for the alliance of motion picture and television producers. >> for writers, their big sticking point is surrounding the writers room. they want a minimum writers on shows for "x" amount of weeks. s.a.g., one of their main sticking points is regarding residuals and data transparency. >> reporter: the strike is trickling down to every part of the los angeles economy. >> i'm estimating right now that the overall impact is upwards of $5 billion, right now total in terms of the economy of california. and that's not just the losses certainly that the studios might incur. things like that. that's also the discretionary income that workers and things like that actors and writers aren't able to spend on goods and services they normally

would. >> reporter: now entering what should be the fall premiere season, viewers will feel the effect on some of the most popular shows with delays. >> there's not going to be fall returning tv. no "abbott no "shrinking." >> reporter: the 2023 emmys were supposed to air last night but have been rescheduled to early 2024. >> i cannot wait to see this human, let's get him right on out here. >> reporter: drew barrymore was set to return for her show's season four premiere this week after previously standing in solidarity with the unions. >> i've been through so many ups and downs in my life. and this is one of them. >> reporter: fierce backlash on line but stood by her decision in this since-deleted social media video. >> we aren't going to break

roles, and we will be in compliance. i wanted to do this because, as i said, this is bigger than me. and there are other people's jobs on the line. >> reporter: after mounting pressure online, barrymore reversed course, announcing the show would go on pause until the strikes conclude. >> when they come back, people remember who stood with them during these negotiation times. who stood with them when they were fighting for their livelihood. >> reporter: i first spoke with kendrick samson in july on the first day of the sag-aftra strike. >> there are no excuses. right now you're being greedy and inhumane. >> reporter: he expressed frustrations about what he deems unfair residual compensation for his work on hbo's "insecure" and countless other popular shows. >> i got an envelope of 56 checks. and out of 50 of them, i would even say -- i would venture to say 10 of them didn't equal a

dollar. >> reporter: we caught up back on the picket lines as the strike continues into its second full month. are people getting desperate at this point? >> people were desperate in the beginning. we're just exhausted. it's breaking my heart to see how many people -- people don't understand, especially from black folks. every perch that leaves is a bit of the infrastructure that we have to protect our stories. >> reporter: is there a point in which people have to relent, like okay, we're going to lose but maybe we can moderate our demands? >> no. no. if you do that, you lose sight of what we're fighting for. so if we relent, we get the pennies that we started with. and we know we deserve more. >> reporter: the amptp and wga head back to the negotiating table tomorrow, but in the meantime, some big-name stars have used their larger platforms to advocate in solidarity. promoting his independent film at the venice film festival, adam driver spoke out about the

discrepancies between big studio and indie projects. >> why is it that a distribution company, a smaller distribution company, like neon and stx international, can meet the dream demands of what s.a.g. is asking for, but a big company like netflix and amazon can't? >> reporter: dwayne "the rock" johnson, nicole kidman, ben affleck and more contributing millions to the strike fund which provides emergency funds and health care for striking actors. >> if the rock were to stand on a picket line, the perception might be, you make hundreds of millions, what are you fighting for? there are people out there fighting for the people that need help, but they also don't want to suck up all the oxygen in the room. >> all right, we're all moved into storage. behind me is my whole life in a 10 by 10 storage unit. >> reporter: for now, jess is trading the life she knew in tinseltown for a new one in the sunshine state. but she says this isn't good-bye, it's see you later.

how long do you think you're going to be out there for? >> i'd like to think sometime after january 1st, i will drive back. there will be work. every time i talk to someone, everyone thinks we won't be back to work until the new year. >> reporter: next year, yeah. >> byron: our thanks to matt. up next, the contractor taking ye to court. the home improvement allegations against the rapper formerly known as kanye west. if your moderate to severe crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis symptoms are stopping you in your tracks... choose stelara® from the start... and move toward relief after the first dose... with injections every two months. stelara® may increase your risk of infections, some serious, and cancer. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms, sores, new skin growths, have had cancer, or if you need a vaccine. pres, a rare, potentially fatal brain condition, may be possible. some serious allergic reactions

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remodeling job for an even more high-profile client. but tony saxon claims the rapper formerly known as kanye west treated him wrong. he's suing the controversial superstar for what he says is rightfully his. here's "nightline's" ashan singh. ♪ >> variety is the spice of life. >> reporter: tony saxon creates things for a living, like melodies as a musician. and million-dollar mansions as a construction consultant for some of the most demanding and particular jobs on the market. like this so-called barbie palace in northridge, california. >> and when i find myself in many different fields, that's when you find yourself meeting a lot of people, tt's when you find yourself getting crazy referrals. next thing you know, you end up in that house. >> reporter: that house, a malibu beachfront home purchased by ye, formerly known as kahn cray west. what did you know about ye

before? >> nothing. i just knew who he was. you see him everywhere. never voluntarily listened to any of his stuff. ♪ >> reporter: saxon says it was a referral turned walk-through turned job offer from the artist behind "stronger," one of the highest-profile celebrities in hollywood. what was your understanding of what you were going to malibu for? >> nothing. i just went. that walk-through turned into me walking in and seeing all these people scrambling around, trying to be like, okay, now he wants this, now he wants this, now he wants this -- >> reporter: saxon, not a licensed contractor or electri electrician, says he was tasked for a model on the property for more than $57 million. >> i was the project manager. that's an umbrella term. caretaker, security guard. i was the coordinator. i was the cleaner.

i was the direct line between him and most -- a lot of the different facets of his organization. >> reporter: but he says it also came with another cost. >> i can't do any kind of physical labor again. i feel like a 75-year-old man now. >> reporter: saxon is now suing ye, claiming he is owed nearly $1 million in unpaid wages and was forced to work in dangerous conditions. you're saying you were eating, sleeping, living here the whole time? >> yeah. >> reporter: what did that look like? >> a little p.o.w. cot in the corner. you know, whatever. it's not like i need to stay at the ritz-carlton. >> it's so bizarre. it's something no reasonable person would say that's okay, you just can't have employees do that. it's not safe. >> reporter: now ye never explicitly asked him to sleep there, but while he was there, he says he does recall seeing some familiar faces.

>> i think -- i mean, get this, kim kardashian walked in with three kids. one of my guys sees kim from far away. he did the worst thing in the world, "hi, bianca." now, i didn't even realize -- look. we're all old. we all don't know what's going on. >> reporter: according to forces that abc news has spoken to, kim, having been mistaken for her ex-husband's new wife, laughed the interaction off. ye is one of the most prolific and dominating personalities in music history. and the man behind the explosive brand "yeesy." last year, the 46-year-old mogul making headlines for his repeated offensive and anti-semitic remarks. balenciaga cut ties. adidas ended its partnership since his comments last october.

he married designer bianca sesori in a private ceremony. ye now thrust back in the spotlight and not for good reasons. according to the lawsuit, saxon made constant complaints to ye of various safety hazards, including workers unsafely demolishing various parts of the house with no safety equipment. no action was taken by ye to address complaints. saxon claims the working conditions worsened to the point he told ye he had injured his back severely and needs time off to rest. the star allegedly disregarded saxon's concerns and instead responded by asking to discuss the next phase of the project. >> told him i got hurt. "my back and neck are destroyed, i can't be up there, i can't be sleeping there." admittedly i left side had a back, but my neck, that was the nail in the coffin. you can only pay people so much to do crazy work. >> reporter: saxon says things came to a head one day when ye allegedly demanded saxon to remove all the electricity and

windows from the house, which led to saxon expressing concerns about the extreme danger of such actions. despite his explanations, ye allegedly persisted, raising his voice and insisted on moving large generators inside the house pier. >> he goes, you've got generators, just move the generators. we can't have them outside. he said, put them inside. you can't have carbon monoxide running in a building, you'll suffocate everyone. he looks at me and he was furious. "if you don't do what i ask you to, do you're a kardashian, you're an enemy, i'm not going to be your friend, you're only going to see me on tv." i looked at him and first thing i said, "i don't watch tv." i walked out. he said, "get the hell out." >> reporter: before things got sour, was there any part of you that liked any part of him, that kind of kept you around? >> i liked him, i liked him. >> reporter: some of saxon's claims could be difficult to prove in court. saxon didn't sign a contract before he started working.

he says he voluntarily put in extra hours. >> the devil's in the details. the details are usually in a contract. if it's all verbal and no witnesses, the details get really difficult here. >> i'm an old-school dirty rock 'n' roller. you got to stay late, you got to sweat, you got to work. >> reporter: while suing for unpaid wages and money of his own he says he spent, exactly how much that is in total isn't in the lawsuit. how much of your own money are you saying that you put into this project? >> everything that i felt responsible for as my own on that. every single thing. because it was, it was coming to me. it got to the point i told him, "we're out of money, you need to send money, we're completely out of money." >> reporter: how much of your own money you used? >> a lot. >> reporter: how much of your own money are you saying went down the drain? >> put this way, every ounce of my body, soul, and pocket invested in that job. are you going to turn down an opportunity to work with a multibillionaire? >> reporter: after saxon's firing which he says violated

labor laws, he's come to sobering reality. >> my mental state is crazy. my neck is broken. i can't do anything. i was so happy to be out of there, even going inside a burger king felt like i was in the taj mahal. >> reporter: abc news reached out to ye for comment but did not receive one at a time of this broadcast. but saxon says he's not backing down. >> i've been through hell in my life. you cannot scare me, you cannot embarrass me. >> byron: our thanks to ashan. up next, a story of survival and symbol of hope growing tonight on maui.

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♪ >> byron: finally tonight, maui strong. six weeks after so much devastation on the hawaiian island of maui, a sign of home. lahaina's historic banyan tree, a symbol 150 years of life, regrowing its first leaves since the fires. >> we're so happy to see that the banyan tree is coming back to life. we're also happy to see the other native trees in lahaina coming back to life. >> volunteers have been tending to the tree, aerating the soil, providing nutrients and water. their efforts coming to fruition. and that's "nightline" for this evening. catch full episodes on hulu. we'll see you right back here same time tomorrow. thanks for the company, america. good night. like, "what is your glucose?"