Dwayne Johnson has contributed a ‘historic’ amount to SAG-AFTRA to help provide for union actors on strike.
The Screen Actors’ Guild won’t disclose the specific amount other than to say that it’s in seven figures, but they are the ones calling it historic, and the largest total contribution ever received from a single individual.
Two weeks ago, SAG-AFTRA Foundation president Courtney B. Vance and director Cyd Wilson wrote a letter to thousands of the union’s highest-earning actors to appeal to their sense of community. While the lucky very few earn millions, almost 80% of the 160,000 members of the actors’ guild earn less than $26K a year, the threshold to qualify for union-provided health insurance. During this strike, they’ll be earning nothing at all as actors, forcing many to take second jobs or to rely on help.
The SAG-AFTRA Foundation is trying to provide grants of $1500-6000 per member, depending on their need. Dwayne Johnson’s contribution, according to Wilson, can help between 7000 and 10000 members.
“It is a call to arms for all of us to know that we just have to step up however you can,” Vance adds. “If your step up is $10, step up. Because that $10 is going to help somebody. If it’s $10,000, if it’s $10 million, step up, because we have to. Everyone knows what happens when you go on strike, when you stand for something — as the saying goes, if you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for everything — you can’t stand unless you have support underneath you, on the side, up top and up front. So Dwayne is letting everyone know, ‘I’m here. What are you going to do?’”
The SAG-AFTRA strike which began in mid-July, is over issues like poverty wages, insurance, residuals, streaming rights, and who will own the rights to AI generative images made from someone’s face, voice, and skills.