Hollywood stars strike outside Netflix and Disney as productions in UK are suspended
US actors and writers have come out in force to protest outside some of the biggest production companies in the world in a move set to paralyse Hollywood’s film and TV industry.
For the first time in 63 years, both SAG-AFTRA (the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) and WGA (the Writers Guild of America) simultaneously took to the streets of Los Angeles in a bid for fairer pay, better working conditions and addressing the concerns of AI use in production.
Ted Lasso star Jason Sudeikis, Titanic actress Frances Fisher and radio and TV host Billy Bush were some of the famous faces spotted on the picket line as the joint protests started on Friday.
Ted Lasso actor, Jason Sudeikis. Pic: AP/RW/MediaPunch /IPX
Discussions broke down between the unions and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) which represents film studios, TV networks and streaming services.
Actors and writers claim their residual pay, money received from film and TV episode reruns, have been hit hard due to the streaming boom – broadcast TV rates were much higher.
Series have become shorter, breaks between seasons longer, and the unions say that although series budgets are rising, that increase is not being reflected in the share of the money coming to performers.
Actors also see their jobs as especially vulnerable to new technology, with AI able to replicate facial expressions, body movement and voice with alarming accuracy.
Members of both unions marched outside major studios including Warner Bros, Netflix and Disney. The 11,500 screenwriters belonging to WGA have been demonstrating since May.
Pic: AP
Pic: AP
Strikes took place outside Warner Bros. studios too. Pic: AP
What about British cinema?
The chief executive of the UK Cinema Association, Phil Clapp, said the strike may cause “little, if any, disruption” to British theatres for the “foreseeable future”, but premieres may not see the glamour of stars on the red carpet.
“While it will clearly be for each individual to make their own decision, it may be that until the dispute is resolved we will see some premieres not being supported by the ‘talent’ in front of or behind the camera,” he said.
“In terms of wider UK cinema-going, given the challenges UK cinema operators have faced in the last few years, all will be concerned by anything which might potentially threaten the supply of films to the big screen, and so it is very much hoped that there will be a quick resolution.
“Unless the current strike is a protracted one, we are confident that cinemas will see little if any disruption in the foreseeable future.”
Some productions in the UK have already been suspended as a result of the strike; Marvel’s Deadpool 3, featuring Ryan Reyolds and Hugh Jackman, has paused its filming in Norfolk.
Pictures also emerged this week of the abandoned set of Wicked in Buckinghamshire, after its stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Eviro posted in support of the strike on social media.
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Oppenheimer cast support strike
Further solidarity was expressed by celebrities including George Clooney, Alec Baldwin and Halle Berry.
“This is an inflection point in our industry,” Clooney said in a statement. “Actors and writers in large numbers have lost their ability to make a living.
“For our industry to survive that has to change. For actors that journey starts now.”
Baldwin, who had all criminal charges dropped against him 18 months after Halyna Hutchins was shot dead on a film set, congratulated the union for calling the strike in order to protect its “rank and file” members.
“I don’t think anybody really wants a strike but they don’t want to continue under the unfair contracts that we’re working under now,” he said.
“So congratulations to everybody and I hope this is over right after we get everything we want.”
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Brian Cox: ‘Strikes may get unpleasant’
During the London premiere of the historical epic Oppenheimer on Thursday, actors including Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr, and Emily Blunt left the red carpet to “write their picket signs”, the film’s director Christopher Nolan said.
Meanwhile, Succession star Brian Cox said the strike could get “very unpleasant” and may not be resolved until the end of the year.
The 1960 Hollywood revolt began and ended with screenwriters protesting for 148 days, with 42 days of actors striking sandwiched in between.
There had been no further dual strikes until now.
Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch, two Wall Street Journal reporters and the publication’s owner, News Corp.
The US president has accused the named individuals of defamation, claiming they acted with malicious intent and caused him overwhelming financial and reputational harm.
The lawsuit, which was filed in Miami, seeks at least $10bn (£7.5bn) in damages.
In a post on Truth Social, Mr Trump called the lawsuit “historic legal action” which was filed on behalf of himself and all Americans who he said will “no longer tolerate the abusive wrongdoings of the Fake News Media”.
“I hope Rupert and his ‘friends’ are looking forward to the many hours of depositions and testimonies they will have to provide in this case,” he wrote.
It comes after Mr Trump claimed that a letter he allegedly wrote to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein was “fake” and said he would sue the “ass off” Rupert Murdoch, who owns the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), which first published the story.
The publication had said Mr Trump wrote the letter as part of a collection Epstein’s former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, planned to give him as a 50th birthday present in 2003.
It claimed the message, allegedly from Mr Trump, featured several lines of typewritten text, concluding with: “May every day be another wonderful secret.”
The text was framed by what appeared to be a hand-drawn outline of a naked woman, the WSJ claimed. The letter is also said to have featured the signature “Donald”.
Mr Trump immediately denied writing the letter when the WSJ report was published on Thursday night.
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Memes of Epstein undermine victims, says lawyer
“The Wall Street Journal printed a FAKE letter, supposedly to Epstein,” he wrote on Truth Social.
“These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don’t draw pictures. I told Rupert Murdoch it was a Scam, that he shouldn’t print this Fake Story. But he did, and now I’m going to sue his ass off, and that of his third rate newspaper.”
Mr Trump ignored questions about Epstein as he signed a cryptocurrency bill at the White House earlier on Friday.
The president’s lawsuit comes as the US government filed a motion to unseal grand jury transcripts related to Epstein, who took his own life while awaiting trial in 2019.
In a Manhattan federal court filing, the Department of Justice said the criminal cases against Epstein and Maxwell are a matter of public interest, justifying the release of associated grand jury transcripts.
Earlier on Friday, Mr Trump said attorney general Pam Bondi had been asked to release the transcripts because of “the ridiculous amount of publicity given to Jeffrey Epstein”.
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The justice department previously said it had around 200 documents relating to Epstein and that the FBI had thousands more.
It is unknown how much of this is grand jury testimony, which is typically kept secret under US law.
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All we know about the ‘friendship’
Trump denies writing birthday letter to Epstein
The president has faced increased scrutiny over his alleged friendship with Epstein since his administration’s U-turn on the so-called ‘Epstein files’.
Mr Trump pledged to release files on Epstein during his presidential campaign, as his MAGA movement accused the Biden administration of suppressing the extent of Epstein’s paedophilia, predatory behaviour and his so-called “client list” – thought to contain names of the rich and famous who conspired with him in his child sex trafficking operation.
But after a review of the evidence the US government has, the Justice Department recently determined that no “further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted”.
Venezuela releases jailed Americans in prisoner swap
The Trump administration said on Friday that it had negotiated an exchange with Venezuela, resulting in the release of 10 jailed Americans.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio said the prisoners, who had been held in the South American country, were “on their way to freedom”.
Men in the CECOT jail in EL Salvador. Pic: Reuters
In return, 252 Venezuelan migrants being held in El Salvador have been freed, the Venezuelan government said.
They had been held in the notorious maximum security CECOT prison after being deported by the US.
US
Trump denies claim he wrote birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein – and says he has ordered release of more case files
Donald Trump has called an alleged letter he wrote to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein “fake” and said he will sue the “ass off” Rupert Murdoch, who owns the paper that first published the claim.
In multiple posts on Truth Social, the US president accused The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) of fabricating the letter that it claimed was written by Mr Trump as part of a collection of letters addressed to Epstein that his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell planned to give him as a birthday present in 2003.
According to documents seen by the WSJ, Mr Trump’s letter featured several lines of typewritten text framed by what appeared to be a hand-drawn outline of a naked woman.
The paper said the letter concludes “Happy Birthday – and may every day be another wonderful secret”, and featured the signature “Donald”, allegedly drawn across the woman’s waist, meant to mimic the appearance of pubic hair.
Epstein took his own life in prison in 2019. Pic: AP
Responding to the WSJ’s claims, Mr Trump wrote: “The Wall Street Journal printed a FAKE letter, supposedly to Epstein. These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don’t draw pictures.
“I told Rupert Murdoch it was a Scam, that he shouldn’t print this Fake Story. But he did, and now I’m going to sue his ass off, and that of his third rate newspaper. Thank you for your attention to this matter! DJT.”
He said earlier he would also sue the WSJ and News Corp, which Mr Murdoch owns. The WSJ is published by News Corp subsidiary company, Dow Jones & Co.
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From 16 July: Trump: Epstein case is ‘a boring story’
The Justice Department has not responded to the WSJ and the FBI declined to comment.
In a separate post, Mr Trump said he has asked the attorney general, Pam Bondi, to release “any and all pertinent grand jury testimony” in the case of the paedophile financier who was found dead in his Manhattan cell in August 2019, shortly after he was arrested on sex trafficking charges.
The release of any documents, Mr Trump said, would be subject to approval by a court.
The justice department has previously said it had around 200 documents relating to Epstein and that the FBI had thousands more. It is unknown how much of this is grand jury testimony – which is typically kept secret under US law.
Ms Bondi responded to the president on X, writing: “President Trump-we are ready to move the court tomorrow to unseal the grand jury transcripts.”
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Elon Musk, who claimed last month that Mr Trump appears in the Epstein files, was surprisingly among the first to come to the president’s defence over the WSJ claims.
“It really doesn’t sound like something Trump would say tbh,” the tech billionaire wrote on X, before going on to ask where the evidence against Epstein allegedly held by the FBI had gone.
The Trump administration has come under criticism after the president appeared to U-turn on his own promise to release more information about the Epstein case publicly.
In the run-up to the US election last year, Mr Trump drew on rumours and conspiracy theories that appeared to accuse the Biden administration of suppressing the extent of Epstein’s paedophilia, predatory behaviour and his so-called “client list” – thought to contain names of the rich and famous who conspired with him in a child sex trafficking operation.
Ms Bondi fuelled these rumours in February by telling Fox News that the alleged Epstein client list was “sitting on my desk right now to review”.
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In the same month, the justice department released some government documents regarding the case, but there were no new revelations.
After a months-long review of additional evidence, the department earlier this month released a video meant to prove that Epstein killed himself, but said no other files related to the case would be made public.
The decision was criticised by many in Mr Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, who Mr Trump later called “weaklings”.
Sky News has contacted the White House for further comment.
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