‘No contracts, no peace’: Actors stage demonstration in New York
Kevin Bacon is the latest A-list star to join the picket lines in support of SAG-AFTRA’s strike against Hollywood production houses.
Negotiators for the actors union unanimously recommended a strike after talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) broke down last week.
Additionally, the Writers Guild of America has been on strike since early May. Both groups demand increases in base pay and residuals in the streaming TV era, plus assurances that their work will not be replaced by artificial intelligence (AI).
Fran Drescher, former star of The Nanny and SAG president, said studios’ responses to the actors’ concerns had been “insulting and disrespectful”.
In light of the historic double strike, several actors and writers, including Matilda child star and romcom staple John Cusack, have shared personal horror stories of Hollywood studio greed.
Meanwhile, Disney CEO Bob Iger condemned the threatened strike action as “very disruptive” at the “worst time” as well as calling the expectations of writers and actors “not realistic”.
