Was Diablo Cody felled by 'Writers Flu'?

A virulent strain of "Writers Flu" hit the Santa Barbara International Film Festival today.

It even felled Oscar-nominated first-time screenwriter Diablo Cody!

She was one of several writers who had agreed to participate in the fest's Writers' Panel at 11 a.m. today.

A few weeks ago, fest director Roger Durling told the Santa Barbara Blog: "Everyone knows the number one topic will be the writer's strike, and it will be fascinating to hear their thoughts."

But the panel was canceled when all the participants called in sick Friday night. Seriously. "They all said they had the flu," Durling said this morning.

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Thankfully, the illness didn't stop Diablo Cody from appearing on "Late Show With David Letterman" on Jan. I wonder if anyone's working on a vaccine for this new strain of flu that targets writers. It sure sounds nasty and it's probably highly contagious.

Why, it might even cause the Oscars to be canceled!

Photos: Diablo Cody was feeling fine when she appeared on David Letterman's late-night show. But just three days later, a flu caused her to cancel her Saturday SBIFF appearance.
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