- Share this article on Facebook
- Share this article on Twitter
- Share this article on Flipboard
- Share this article on Email
- Show additional share options
- Share this article on Linkedin
- Share this article on Pinit
- Share this article on Reddit
- Share this article on Tumblr
- Share this article on Whatsapp
- Share this article on Print
- Share this article on Comment
Fran Drescher did not mince words when addressing members of her union and the press during Thursday’s formal announcement that SAG-AFTRA is now on strike. The labor organization’s president, elected in 2022, railed on the studios — and their proposed offers — as the reason for talks breaking down.
“We had no choice,” said Drescher, speaking alongside members of the group’s national board. “We are the victims here. We are being victimized by a very greedy entity. I am shocked by the way the people we have been in business with are treating us. I cannot believe it, quite frankly, how far apart we are on so many things. How they plead poverty, that they’re losing money left and right, while giving millions to CEOs. It’s disgusting. Shame on them.”
Related Stories
Drescher deferred to the union’s national executive director, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, for much of the presser but did offer up a ton of criticism of the AMPTP, with which she’s been in extended negotiations for well over a month.
“They stand on the wrong side of history at this very moment,” she continued. “We stand in solidarity [and] in unprecedented unity. Our union and sister unions and unions around the world are standing by us, as well as other labor unions. Because, at some point, the jig is up. You cannot keep being dwindled and marginalized and disrespected and dishonored. The entire business model has been changed by streaming, digital and AI. This is a moment of history that is a moment of truth. If we don’t stand tall right now, we are all going to be in trouble. We are all going to be in jeopardy of being replaced by machines and big business, [which] cares more about Wall Street than you and your family.”
The actress, most famous for her six-season run on the 1990s CBS sitcom The Nanny, has courted support from her union during these negotiations. She has also courted criticism. She spoke optimistically about the talks in late June, a likely factor in some of the higher-profile members of her union writing a letter to SAG-AFTRA leadership demanding more headway if a strike were to be averted. And then, as talks entered their final week, Drescher was photographed at a Dolce & Gabbana event in Italy with Kim Kardashian. She addressed that incident during her time at the podium as well.
“I’m a brand ambassador for a fashion company, and so is Kim,” Drescher explained. “I had only met Kim seconds before that publicity picture was taken. It had nothing to do with being at a party or having fun. It was absolute work. I was in hair and makeup three hours a day, walking in heels on cobblestones, doing things like that — which is work. I’m sure Kim would rather have been at her home in Malibu with her children. But we work. That’s what we do. And, at 10:30 at night, I would leave the event, return to my hotel room and call into the Zoom. … I worked around the clock in three different time zones.”
Crabtree-Ireland echoed her remarks, adding that she — like all actors — has a right to do her job while also fulfilling her union obligations.
During the SAG-AFTRA presentation, the AMPTP released what they claimed to be the studio’s proposed deal to the actors — one it said included “historic pay and residual increases” and a “groundbreaking AI proposal.” Drescher did not agree.
“It was insulting,” she said of the proposals. “So we came together, in strength and solidarity and in unity with the largest strike authorization vote in our union’s history. And we made the hard decision. This is major. It’s really serious, and it’s going to impact every single person that is in labor. We are fortunate enough to be in a country that happens to be labor-friendly — and yet we were facing opposition that was so labor-unfriendly, so tone-deaf to what we are saying. You cannot change the business model as much as it has changed and not expect the contract to change too.
“We are not going to keep doing incremental changes on a contract that no longer honors what’s happening right now with this business model that was foisted on us,” she continued near the end of her speech. “What are we doing, moving around furniture on the Titanic? The jig is up, AMPTP. We stand tall. You have to wake up and smell the coffee. We are labor and we stand tall and we demand respect and to be honored for our contribution. You share the wealth, because you can’t exist without us.”
Lesley Goldberg contributed to this report.
THR Newsletters
Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day