Day 1 of actors strike: Fran Drescher Mobbed On SAG-AFTRA Picket Lines, Says Studios Are “Doing Bad Things To Good People”
Day 1 of actors strike: Fran Drescher Mobbed On SAG-AFTRA Picket Lines, Says Studios Are “Doing Bad Things To Good People”
Fran Drescher boarded the bus and has landed at her first picket line on the first day of the actors strike.
The Nanny star was mobbed outside of Netflix’s Hollywood HQ after giving a rousing speech in defense of actors after talks collapsed with the AMPTP.
“We are the victims here and they’re doing bad things to good people. They’re not willing to share in their wealth and change contracts to accommodate the new business model,” she said.
Drescher and SAG-AFTRA Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland spoke yesterday about how the studios were unwilling to come to an acceptable agreement on issues such as AI protection and streaming residuals, with Drescher calling the studios “greedy”.
When asked by Deadline about her dealings with AMPTP leader Carol Lombardini, Drescher said, “I called her on some of the BS and I think that she met her match and I don’t think she was expecting it from me and Duncan but Duncan told her right in the beginning ‘Do not doubt our resolve on this’ and unfortunately it fell on deaf ears.”
Drescher added that she believes the studios “duped” SAG-AFTRA with the talks extension so that they could promote summer movies, which include Barbie and Oppenheimer.
“We thought they were really serious about making [a deal] but that’s not what happened… they came back with bupkis. I think they were manipulating us so they could further promote their summer movies,” she said. “We are very firm in our resolve, the dance that they have been playing and we’ve been dancing to is over.”
Crabtree-Ireland told Deadline that they haven’t spoken to the studios since Wednesday night and the ball is in the AMPTP’s court. “The companies need to come back to the table,” he said.
