Yes, a photo of trimmed trees outside the NBCUniversal building is real

Amid an entertainment workers’ strike, photos went viral claiming to show drastically trimmed trees lining a street in Los Angeles where the workers were picketing.

“Quick shoutout to the good people at @UniversalPics for trimming the trees that gave our picket line shade right before a 90+ degree week,” a tweet from sketch comedy writer Chris Stephens said. 

After the photo was posted on July 17, it racked up more than 36 million views. “Universal trimmed trees” was also a trending search on Google and people online wondered if the trees were really trimmed like that.

THE QUESTION

Is the photo of the drastically trimmed trees outside a NBCUniversal building real?

THE SOURCES

• Chris Stephens
• Los Angeles City Controller Kenneth Mejia
• Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman
• Google Maps

THE ANSWER

Yes, the viral photo of the trimmed trees outside a NBCUniversal building is real.

WHAT WE FOUND

In a direct message to VERIFY, Chris Stephens confirmed he took the viral photo outside an NBCUniversal building. According to the Los Angeles Times, Stephens is striking along with other entertainment writers.

The Los Angeles Times also published a side-by-side image of the trees before and after trimming.

Los Angeles City Controller Kenneth Mejia tweeted similar photos of the trees. One was a picture of what the trees looked like at an earlier unspecified date and another was an after photo showing the trimmed trees.

On Twitter, Meija said his office was investigating the studio because no tree trimming permits have been issued over the last three years at the location seen in the photo. The photo was taken at the intersection of Barham Boulevard and Lakeside Plaza, Google Maps confirms, where an NBCUniversal building is located. Fica trees can be seen lining Barham Boulevard in Google Maps’ Street View images taken in February 2023. 

“Our Office is investigating the tree trimming that occurred outside Universal Studios where workers, writers, and actors are exercising their right to picket. The trimmed trees are LA City managed street trees,” Meija wrote.

Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman also confirmed on Twitter that no permit was issued at that location. Permits for tree trimming along Los Angeles’ urban streets are managed by the Urban Forestry Division under the Bureau of Street Services.  Raman posted a statement from the Bureau of Street Services (StreetsLA) that said a notice to comply will be issued to the property owner. 

“This is standard practice for when work occurs in the public right-of-way without permission. UFD (Urban Forestry Division) will also coordinate with StreetsLA’s Investigation and Enforcement Division (IED) to confirm if this case warrants the issuance of an administrative citation or an administrative hearing,” Raman’s tweet says.

VERIFY reached out to NBCUniversal for comment and did not hear back at the time of publication. 

But, in a statement to Deadline, a spokesperson for NBCUniversal said: “We understand that the safety tree trimming of the Ficus trees we did on Barham Blvd. has created unintended challenges for demonstrators. That was not our intention. In partnership with licensed arborists, we have pruned these trees annually at this time of year to ensure that the canopies are light ahead of the high wind season. We support the WGA and SAG’s right to demonstrate and are working to provide some shade coverage. We continue openly communicating with the labor leaders on-site to work together during this time.”