Adam Shapiro poses on a picket line outside Netflix studios on Tuesday in Los Angeles. Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP
LOS ANGELES — Some of the Hollywood’s highest paid actors, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Nicole Kidman and Dwayne Johnson, have donated millions of dollars to help fellow SAG-AFTRA members struggling from the work stoppage.
The SAG-AFTRA Foundation announced Wednesday that its Emergency Assistance Program raised more than $15 million in the last three weeks. The program provides grants to help performers pay expenses like rent, groceries and medical bills.
Donations of more than $1 million came from several high profile actors and their spouses, including George and Amal Clooney, Luciana and Matt Damon, DiCaprio, Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness, Johnson, Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck, Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively, Julia Roberts, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Meryl Streep and Oprah Winfrey.
Actors have been on strike for nearly three weeks. Their union, SAG-AFTRA, and studios represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have yet to make an agreement on a new film and TV contract and remain far apart on issues such as residuals from streaming platforms and regulations surrounding artificial intelligence.
Amid the standoff, the SAG-AFTRA Foundation said it is processing more than 30 times its typical emergency aid applications and last week received 400 applications for financial assistance to actors during the work stoppage.
“Our Emergency Financial Assistance Program is here to ensure that performers in need don’t lose their homes, have the ability to pay for utilities, buy food for their families, purchase life-saving prescriptions, cover medical bills and more,” said the foundation’s President Courtney B. Vance in a statement. “It’s a massive challenge, but we’re determined to meet this moment.”
Vance, who is also an actor and producer, said the fundraising campaign kick started with Johnson’s 7-figure donation. Then, Streep and Clooney, who are leaders in the Actors Council, gave $1 million donations and rallied other members to contribute.
“In this strike action, I am lucky to be able to support those who will struggle in a long action to sustain against Goliath,” Streep said in a statement. “We will stand strong together against these powerful corporations who are bent on taking the humanity, the human dignity, even the human out of our profession.”
“We stand ready to get back to the table and make a fair deal with the AMPTP,” Clooney said in a statement. “Until then, I’m proud to be able to support the SAG-AFTRA Foundation and my fellow actors who may be struggling in this historic moment.”
The actors are striking at the same time as screenwriters, who’ve been on strike since May 2.
The work stoppages have halted scripted film and TV nationwide, creating economic hardships for cast and crew as well prop houses and other businesses that depend on the industry.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
