Another week of the SAG-AFTRA strike has revealed all-round Good Guy Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has made the largest-ever donation the foundation has ever received – at a reported seven figures.
The exact amount has not been revealed, but it’s being labelled as ‘historic’ and will give a much-needed cash injection to aid union members facing hardship due to being out of work during the strikes.
Executive director of the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, Cyd Wilson, issued a statement via Variety, saying: “It’s the largest single donation that we’ve ever received from one individual at one time, and what is amazing is that that one check is going to help thousands of actors keep food on their table, and keep their kids safe, and keep their cars running. And it’s not lost on me that he’s very humble about this, but it is a way to get us started.”
She continued: “This is how we did this during COVID — some of the biggest stars in our industry stepped up. For him to step up like this is really going to get us started in the fundraising that we’re going I need to do, because everything we’re hearing and seeing, we feel we have to be prepared that this could go on through the end of the year. We’re going to have to be able to help these people in the long run. We have 160,000 SAG-AFTRA performers and that’s a lot of people that are going to need our help. This donation is the kickstart we needed in the first week of what we think will be a long haul.”
It’s difficult to understand how things could possibly go on for so long, because surely people need to eat and should expect to be paid fairly for honest work. However, one studio exec actually said the following:
“The endgame is to allow things to drag on until union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses.”
That’s absolutely bonkers. Think about it; these people are responsible for all your favourite TV shows, movies, some of the biggest contributors to modern geek culture… but they don’t deserve fair pay?
Someone else on the inside labelled the strategy “a cruel but necessary evil.”
And with no real ray of light at the end of the tunnel for either the SAG-AFTRA or Writers Guild of America strikes – with some reports suggesting negotiations may not be revisited until later this year – we can see some tough times ahead.
Just as well we have heroes like Dwayne, isn’t it?
Source: GeekTyrant
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