Actors including Brian Cox, Simon Pegg and Andy Serkis have told Sky News of their fears about AI as they rallied in support of the Hollywood strike.
Dozens of British stars turned out to London’s Leicester Square on Friday for the demonstration, which was organised by British acting union Equity in solidarity with performers in the US.
The action has brought Hollywood to a virtual standstill, forcing many film and TV productions to shut down, and marks the first time in more than 60 years that both actors and writers have gone on strike.
Succession star Brian Cox said the issues involved were of concern for performers around the world.
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He told Sky News: “This is a major strike that’s happening in the States and we need to support them.
“We’ll be under siege next, we’re already under siege, particularly with artificial intelligence, and it’s something that has to be stopped and nipped in the bud.”
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Mr Cox also called for greater regulation of the industry in the UK – or as he put it: “Legislation that says ‘AI f*** off'”.
The Crown star Imelda Staunton said pay was also a major issue for struggling performers in the industry, but said technological advancements had added to anxiety across the profession.
“The issues that are being raised about streaming and AI are all issues that really need addressing.
“This is a global problem, this isn’t America or England, it’s all over,” she told Sky News.
Other stars at the rally included Rob Delaney, Jim Carter, Naomie Harris and Penelope Wilton.
Some protesters carried signs reading: “Leave AI to Sci-fi,” “Write to Strike” and “This Barbie’s last residual was $0.02”.
Shaun of the Dead writer and star Simon Pegg, who is a member of both SAG-AFTRA and Equity, described the industrial action as a “tipping point” after years of concern over pay and the impact of streaming services such as Netflix.
He told Sky News: “AI is worrying too, because we’re looking at being replaced in some ways.
“And they want to scan the faces of background artists and then use their image in perpetuity, which is incredibly unreasonable, because they could use them for anything.
“We have to be compensated and we have to have some say in how it’s used.
“I don’t want to turn up in an advert for something I disagree with, some fossil fuel company, because I’m fundamentally opposed to them. I want to be able to hang on to my image, and voice, and know where it’s going.”
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Hayley Atwell, who stars in the new release Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, said the industry needed a “course correct” as bosses had failed to keep up with rapid technological advancements.
“We have the existential threat of AI taking human jobs, that means that it’s a more precarious situation than ever before,” she told Sky News.
“This is a time to adapt to that and regulate it, so that people who are creating content can continue to do so and make a fair living wage from it.”
She added: “We’re striking and it’s absolutely the right thing to do. I’m 100% in support of it. [But] it’s awful because it’s a last resort for everyone. We don’t want to strike but we’ve been stonewalled.”
Lord of the Rings star Andy Serkis, who described himself as “one of the most scanned actors on the planet”, said he was hopeful strikers in the US – and actors across the world – would eventually win their fight.
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He told Sky News: “I think there’s unquestionably going to be a victory for SAG, for the Writer’s Guild, for Equity, it’s going to come out positive. They are going to hold on this time.”
Serkis also said he had grave concerns over the future of AI, adding: “Artists are becoming severely undervalued. We think actors going on strike is a bit of a joke, [but] when the pandemic was happening, what was everyone doing for two years inside? They were watching shows…
“It’s a very important job. It’s a service and you just want to be paid a reasonable wage.”
Industry body the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents major film and TV studios in the US, says it has offered better terms and conditions, while it also accused SAG-AFTRA of walking away from negotiations.
The union has rejected the claims and said its members would remain on strike indefinitely until concessions were made.
The impasse has prompted fears the dispute could drag on and delay the release of major films and TV programmes later this year, while also causing disruption to major industry events such as the 75th Emmy TV awards, which is scheduled to be held in September.
The man who served 14 years in jail for the murder of schoolboy Jimmy Mizen has been recalled to prison for breaching his licence conditions.
It follows reporting in The Sun newspaper that Jake Fahri, 35, was a drill rapper releasing music under the name TEN, who conceals his identity with a balaclava, and was played on BBC 1Xtra.
A Probation Service spokesperson said: “Our thoughts are with Jimmy Mizen’s family who deserve better than to see their son’s murderer shamelessly boasting about his violent crime.”
Jimmy’s father Barry told Sky News: “We’re not gloating or anything, in a way it’s quite sad.”
His son bled to death after Fahri threw an oven dish at him in a south London bakery on 10 May 2008.
The dish shattered on his chin and severed an artery in the schoolboy’s neck.
Fahri was 19 when he was given a life sentence in 2009 with a minimum term of 14 years and was released on licence in June 2023.
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His music was played on BBC 1Xtra less than 18 months later, the Sun reported, adding that DJ Theo Johnson named him an “up-and-coming star”.
Jimmy’s father earlier said he and his wife Margaret were “stunned into silence” when they were told about Fahri’s music, which often features violent themes.
In one song, which appears to reference Jimmy’s death, he raps about “sharpening” a blade.
“Judge took a look at me, before the trial even started he already knows he’s gonna throw the book at me,” the lyrics say.
Another track includes the lines: “See a man’s soul fly from his eyes and his breath gone… I wanted more, it made it less wrong. Seeing blood spilled same floor he was left on.”
The BBC has said the artist’s tracks do not feature on any BBC playlists, and that a track which appeared to reference Jimmy’s death had never been played on its channels.
A spokesman for the broadcaster added there were “no further plans to play his music”, adding: “We were not aware of his background and we in no way condone his actions.”
A Probation Service spokesperson said: “All offenders released on licence are subject to strict conditions. As this case shows, we will recall them to prison if they break the rules.”
Jimmy’s parents founded the Mizen Foundation after their son’s death. The charity helps young people in London who are escaping violence.
Mr Mizen said: “It appears that if he’s been recalled to prison, he must’ve breached his licence conditions
The man suspected of abducting Madeleine McCann won’t face any charges in the foreseeable future, a prosecutor has told Sky News.
German drifter Christian B, who cannot be fully identified under his country’s privacy law, is expected to be freed from an unrelated jail sentence this year while police in three countries continue to search for evidence against him.
Prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters said: “There is currently no prospect of an indictment in the Maddie case.
“As things stand, the accused Christian B’s imprisonment will end in early September.”
Madeleine, aged three, was asleep with her younger twin siblings in the family’s Portuguese rented holiday apartment before mother Kate discovered her missing at around 10pm on 3 May, 2007.
Her parents were dining nearby on the complex with friends and taking turns to check on all their sleeping children every half an hour.
Madeleine’s disappearance has become the world’s most mysterious missing child case.
Philipp Marquort, one of Christian B’s defence lawyers, welcomed the prosecutor’s pessimism about bringing charges.
He said: “This confirms the suspicions that we have repeatedly expressed, namely that there is no reliable evidence against our client.
“We regret that we have not yet been granted access to the investigation files. We have not yet been able to effectively counter the public prejudice arising from statements made by the prosecutor’s office.”
Christian B, 47, is in jail and coming to the end of his sentence for the rape of an elderly American woman in Praia da Luz, the Portuguese resort where Madeleine disappeared.
In October, he was acquitted on a series of rape and indecent assault charges after a non-jury trial in Germany, in which several references were made to his status as the main suspect in the Madeleine case.
The prosecutor said he was awaiting the court’s written judgment before launching an appeal against the acquittal. He believes the trial judges were biased against the prosecution.
If successful, he could apply for a new arrest warrant for Christian B to keep him in custody until a retrial with new judges.
He said: “We hope that the Federal Court of Justice will decide before the end of the accused’s imprisonment. If the Federal Court follows our legal opinion, we could apply for a new arrest warrant for the accused’s offences, so that the accused would then remain in custody beyond September 2025.
Mr Marquort said the defence team would oppose the prosecution’s appeal against the acquittal.
Prosecutor Mr Wolters has said in the past that he believes Madeleine is dead and that Christian B was responsible for her death. The suspect denies any involvement.
The case against Christian B is purely circumstantial; he’s alleged to have confessed to a friend that he abducted Madeleine, he has convictions for sex crimes against children, he was living in the area at the time, his mobile phone was close by when the young girl vanished and he re-registered one of his vehicles the next day.
The prosecutor won’t say what evidence he has to convince him Madeleine is dead, but he admitted he is still trying to find forensic evidence to link Christian B to the girl.
Jim Gamble, former head of the UK Child Exploitation and Online Protection centre, said he had expected the prosecutor to charge Christian B soon.
“He’s implied the whole way through that he has something more than the public are aware of,” he said.
“He’s made fairly definitive statements about whether Madeleine is alive or dead so you would expect their strategy to have been to charge him sooner rather than later.
“From what he’s said today I wonder if we’re witnessing the re-positioning of something to manage the disappointment that’ll come.”
Mr Wolters, who is based in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, is investigating the case with the help of Portuguese police and detectives from Scotland Yard.
An investigation, led by the Surrey and Sussex Police Major Crime Team, is under way and inquiries remain ongoing, police said.
Senior Investigating Officer DCI Kimball Edey said specialist officers “are working around the clock to gather as much information as possible,” and that the force’s “thoughts are with the family and friends of the victims at this unbelievably difficult time”.