Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson made an “historic” donation to contribute financial support to the ongoing Hollywood actors’ strike this month.
- READ MORE: Why are actors striking in Hollywood?
Earlier this month, negotiations broke down between the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) and the US actors’ union SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists), with talks relating to base pay, residuals and the use of artificial intelligence in the industry.
On July 13 – the day that the strike was declared – SAG-AFTRA Foundation president Courtney B. Vance and executive director Cyd Wilson wrote a letter to 2,700 of the union’s highest-paid actors to highlight the financial hardship that industry professionals were going to face as they stopped work (via Variety).
After sending the letter, Johnson’s team reached out to offer help. The exact seven-figure financial sum, however, is being kept confidential.
“It was a love fest. It’s like, ‘Man, you’re stepping up in a way that is allowing others to know the dire necessity of it,’” Vance told Johnson about his contribution. “This is him saying, ‘In such a time as this, I’m here and I’m not going anywhere, whatever you need me to do.’ And that sends a huge message to other folks to do the same thing.”
Wilson also told Variety: “Having been through this during COVID and having such a great response from our own membership to take care of their own, when the strike was decided, Courtney and I sat down with our team and said, ‘Here we go again.'”
“We rely on donations and grants to provide services — we have been very fortunate that we raised enough money to be able to cover all of our programs,” Wilson added. “But when we hit a crisis like this and we’re going to spend millions and millions of dollars in financial assistance, this is when we need our high profile talent who can afford it, who are in a situation to help others.”
Wilson said that SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s grants offer up to $1,500 (£1,166) per individual member, but that in certain conditions this can increase to $6,000 (£4,666).
The executive director also estimated that between 7,000 to 10,000 members will need those services.
Vance added that Johnson was letting everyone know, “‘I’m here. What are you going to do?'”
Elsewhere, Mark Ruffalo has urged fellow actors and writers to work together to make independent projects and cut out Hollywood’s “fat cats”.
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