Current:Home > FinanceBilly Porter says he needs to sell his house 'because we're on strike' -DollarDynamic
Billy Porter says he needs to sell his house 'because we're on strike'
View
Date:2025-04-17 08:45:23
Billy Porter may have to make some sacrifices as the SAG-AFTRA actors strike wages on.
The actor, 53, who is currently starring in the musical "A Strange Loop" in London, criticized media giants and discussed the strike in an interview with the Evening Standard released Saturday.
"The business has evolved. So the contract has to evolve and change, period," Porter said, referring to the battle with streaming services over residuals.
He added: "To hear (Disney CEO) Bob Iger say that our demands for a living wage are unrealistic? While he makes $78,000 a day?"
Igor recently came under fire for his comments about the actors' strike and Writers Guild of America strike. "There's a level of expectation that they have, that is just not realistic. And they are adding to the set of the challenges that this business is already facing that is, quite frankly, very disruptive," he said on CNBC in July.
Porter continued that despite his perceived fame, he is deeply affected by the strike.
"I have to sell my house," he said. "Because we’re on strike. And I don't know when we're gonna go back (to work)."
The "Pose" alum added, "The life of an artist, until you make (disposable) money — which I haven't made yet — is still check to check."
"I was supposed to be in a new movie, and on a new television show starting in September. None of that is happening," Porter explained. "So to the person who said, 'We're going to starve them out until they have to sell their apartments,' you've already starved me out."
The latter quote refers to a Deadline article in July that cited an unnamed Hollywood executive that said studios plan to let writers go broke before coming back to the negotiation table. "The endgame is to allow things to drag on until union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses," the source said.
Billy Porter demands respectfor drag queens with Fox's 'Accused': 'Drag is not perverse'
Hollywood actors began striking in July, 2 months after writers strike started
Hollywood actors voted to strike in July, joining already-striking writers in a move that shut down the production of countless movies and TV shows.
Meanwhile, writers have been on strike since May, holding out for improved payment contracts at a time when less-than-lucrative streaming deals are bumping up against the looming threat of artificial intelligence taking writers' jobs. Actors are also looking for better pay deals, especially from streaming services such as Netflix.
The combined SAG and Writers Guild of America strikes immediately shut down TV shows and movies currently in production; it has already delayed "Challengers," starring Zendaya, which had been set to debut at Venice International Film Festival but has now been pushed to 2024.
SAG-AFTRA is worried about AI,but can it really replace actors? It already has.
The strike terms also halt promotional appearances ranging from red carpet walks to media junkets. While the duration of the strike is an unknown, some reports suggest studios are willing to hold out into the fall to win concessions.
Screen Actors Guild president Fran Drescher told USA TODAY last month that the union has "discussed what it would cost if it went for six months, so we're looking for the long haul. The gravity of a commitment like this is not lost on any of us. It's major. But we also see that we have no future and no livelihood unless we take this action, unfortunately."
Contributing: Kelly Lawler and Marco della Cava
veryGood! (6)
Related
- Scoot flight from Singapore to Wuhan turns back after 'technical issue' detected
- Ben Shelton's US Open run shows he is a star on the rise who just might change the game
- Stabbing death of Mississippi inmate appears to be gang-related, official says
- Arab American stories interconnect in the new collection, 'Dearborn'
- DeepSeek: Did a little known Chinese startup cause a 'Sputnik moment' for AI?
- 'The Fraud' asks questions as it unearths stories that need to be told
- Novak Djokovic steals Ben Shelton's phone celebration after defeating 20-year-old at US Open
- Vegas hotel operations manager accused of stealing $773K through bogus refund accounts
- Paula Abdul settles lawsuit with former 'So You Think You Can Dance' co
- Judge says civil trial over Trump’s real estate boasts could last three months
Ranking
- 'No Good Deed': Who's the killer in the Netflix comedy? And will there be a Season 2?
- Paris strips Palestinian leader Abbas of special honor for remarks on Holocaust
- Some millennials ditch dating app culture in favor of returning to 'IRL' connections
- US-backed Kurdish fighters say battles with tribesmen in eastern Syria that killed dozens have ended
- $73.5M beach replenishment project starts in January at Jersey Shore
- Sarah Ferguson Shares Heartwarming Update on Queen Elizabeth II's Corgis One Year After Her Death
- Ill worker rescued from reseach station in Antarctica now in a hospital in Australia
- What's at stake for Texas when it travels to Alabama in Week 2 of college football
Recommendation
US wholesale inflation accelerated in November in sign that some price pressures remain elevated
Police announce 2 more confirmed sightings of escaped murderer on the run in Pennsylvania
Clashes resume in largest Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, killing 3 and wounding 10
Gunmen attack vehicles at border crossing into north Mexico, wounding 9, including some Americans
Why members of two of EPA's influential science advisory committees were let go
Prominent activist’s son convicted of storming Capitol and invading Senate floor in Jan. 6 riot
IRS targets 1,600 millionaires who owe at least $250,000
G20 agreement reflects sharp differences over Ukraine and the rising clout of the Global South