00:00 Billy Porter is getting candid about the personal impact of the WGA and SAG after strikes.
00:06 The 53-year-old actor revealed in a new interview with the Evening Standard that he's feeling
00:10 pressure to sell his home due to a strain on his finances, telling the outlet, "I have
00:16 to sell my house because we're on strike and I don't know when we're going to go back to
00:20 work.
00:21 The life of an artist, until you make f*** you money, which I haven't made yet, is still
00:26 check to check.
00:27 I was supposed to be in a new movie and on a new television show starting in September.
00:32 None of that is happening."
00:33 SAG after members hit the picket lines on July 14th after failed negotiations with the
00:38 Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
00:42 The WGA stopped working back in May.
00:45 Both unions are taking a stand on a range of issues, including AI use and streaming
00:50 residuals.
00:51 In Billy's interview, he also addressed the explosive remarks made by Disney CEO Bob Iger
00:57 about how he believes the two guilds' demands are "just not realistic," adding, "To hear
01:03 Bob Iger say that our demands for a living wage are unrealistic while he makes $78,000
01:09 a day, I don't have any words for it but f*** you.
01:12 That's not useful, so I've kept my mouth shut.
01:15 I haven't engaged because I'm so enraged.
01:18 But when I go back to the U.S., I will join the picket lines."
01:22 The Post star also reacted to an anonymous Hollywood executive who reportedly called
01:27 for extreme measures to bring an end to the strikes, telling Deadline, "The endgame is
01:32 to allow things to drag on until union members start losing their apartments and losing their
01:37 houses."
01:38 To which Billy responded, "So to the person who said, 'We're going to starve them out
01:43 until they have to sell their apartments,' you've already starved me out."
01:48 The Emmy Award winner isn't the only one who has spoken out since the strikes started.
01:53 Union President Fran Drescher made headlines for a fiery speech at the strikes' launch,
01:58 explaining why she felt the guild was given no other choice.
02:01 "We have a problem and we are experiencing that right at this moment.
02:10 This is a very seminal hour for us.
02:14 I went in in earnest thinking that we would be able to avert a strike.
02:22 The gravity of this move is not lost on me or our negotiating committee or our board
02:29 members who have voted unanimously to proceed with a strike.
02:36 It's a very serious thing that impacts thousands, if not millions of people all across this
02:44 country and around the world.
02:47 Not only members of this union, but people who work in other industries that service
02:55 the people that work in this industry.
02:59 And so it came with great sadness that we came to this crossroads, but we had no choice.
03:09 We are the victims here.
03:11 We are being victimized by a very greedy entity.
03:19 I am shocked by the way the people that we have been in business with are treating us.
03:26 I cannot believe it, quite frankly, how far apart we are on so many things.
03:34 How they plead poverty, that they're losing money left and right when giving hundreds
03:40 of millions of dollars to their CEOs.
03:44 It is disgusting.
03:47 Shame on them.
03:49 They stand on the wrong side of history at this very moment.
03:55 We stand in solidarity, in unprecedented unity.
04:02 Our union and our sister unions and the unions around the world are standing by us as well
04:12 as other labor unions.
04:16 Because at some point, the jig is up.
04:20 You cannot keep being dwindled and marginalized and disrespected and dishonored.
04:28 The entire business model has been changed by streaming, digital, AI.
04:38 This is a moment of history that is a moment of truth.
04:44 If we don't stand tall right now, we are all going to be in trouble.
04:49 We are all going to be in jeopardy of being replaced by machines and big business who
04:57 cares more about Wall Street than you and your family.
05:02 Most of Americans don't have more than $500 in an emergency.
05:08 This is a very big deal and it weighed heavy on us.
05:14 But at some point, you have to say, "No, we're not going to take this anymore.
05:20 You people are crazy.
05:22 What are you doing?
05:24 Why are you doing this?
05:26 See they all say we're the center of the wheel.
05:30 Everybody else tinkers around our artistry, but actions speak louder than words."
05:36 And there was nothing there.
05:38 It was insulting.
05:42 So we came together in strength and solidarity and unity with the largest strike authorization
05:50 vote in our union's history.
05:55 And we made the hard decision that we tell you as we stand before you today, this is
06:03 major.
06:05 It's really serious and it's going to impact every single person that is in labor.
06:13 We are fortunate enough to be in a country right now that happens to be labor friendly.
06:19 And yet we were facing opposition that was so labor unfriendly, so tone deaf to what
06:29 we are saying.
06:30 You cannot change the business model as much as it has changed and not expect the contract
06:39 to change too.
06:41 We're not going to keep doing incremental changes on a contract that no longer honors
06:47 what is happening right now with this business model that was foisted upon us.
06:53 What are we doing?
06:54 Moving around furniture on the Titanic?
06:58 It's crazy.
07:01 So the jig is up, AMPTP.
07:04 We stand tall.
07:06 You have to wake up and smell the coffee.
07:10 We are labor and we stand tall and we demand respect and to be honored for our contribution.
07:19 You share the wealth because you cannot exist without us.
07:23 Thank you.
07:36 (upbeat music)
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