In a recent interview with the Evening Standard, Billy Porter disclosed that in order to conserve money during the ongoing Hollywood strikes, he must sell his home. Porter, who won an Emmy for his performance on FX’s “Pose,” spoke to the publication to advance his music career and avoided talking about any of his work in cinema or television.
When the subject of the strikes came up, Porter said that he was forced to make cost-cutting moves because several projects he was supposed to work on in September had been put on hold.
Porter remarked, “I have to put my house up for sale.” “Yeah! as a result of our strike. And I’m not sure when we’ll return. The life of an artist is still check-to-check until you make f—you money, which I haven’t done yet. Starting in September, I was supposed to appear in a brand-new film and on a brand-new television program. All of it is not taking place. I’ve already been starved, so to the person who stated, “We’re going to drive them out until they’ve got to sell their apartments,” thank you.
Porter was making reference to a story from Deadline from July that quoted an unnamed Hollywood official as saying that the studios wouldn’t schedule another meeting with the WGA until its members were bankrupt. The Disney CEO, Bob Iger, was also criticized by the actor for claiming in an interview at the Sun Valley Conference on July 13 that the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikers was not being “realistic” in their demands.
“When they set up a system for artists to receive fair compensation through residual (payments) in the late 1950s and early 1960s, it enabled the 2% of working actors — and there are 150,000 members of our union — who work continuously… Then streaming began, according to Porter. “There is no agreement for it…Additionally, since Nielsen ratings are no longer relevant, they are not required to disclose the statistics. The streaming providers are infamous for being secretive about their audience numbers. The company has developed. Therefore, the contract must develop and alter over time. that our demands for a living wage are unreasonable, according to Bob Iger? while earning $78,000 every day?”
Porter reacted to Iger by saying, “I don’t have any words for it, but: f— you.” “That’s not helpful, therefore I refrained from comment. I’m so angry that I haven’t engaged… I’ll join the picket lines when I get back.
Iger’s response to a question about the strikes in July was, “It’s really troubling to me. We’ve discussed the disruptive forces that are affecting this industry and all the difficulties we face, including the recovery from COVID, which is ongoing and isn’t fully recovered. The worst possible time to increase that disturbance is right now. There is a level of anticipation among [strikers] that is simply unfounded. And they are adding to the list of difficulties that this company currently faces, which is, to put it bluntly, quite disruptive.
In an interview with Variety, SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher criticized Iger’s remarks as well, calling them “terribly repugnant,” “out of touch,” and “positively tone deaf.”
“I don’t think it served him well,” Drescher continued. It’s evident that he has no idea what is actually going on with hardworking people who don’t make anything near the pay he is making, therefore if I was that company, I would lock him behind doors & never let him talk to anyone about this. They make insane amounts of money—high seven figures and eight figures—and they don’t give a damn because they were medieval land barons.
To read the whole most recent profile on Porter, go to the Evening Standard website.