Sarah Silverman called out actors who are still working on Indie projects instead of showing solidarity with WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikers.
“I feel f—king pissed off, and I know I just must not be understanding something. There are, like, 40 movies being made right now,” Silverman, 52, said in an Instagram video posted on Thursday, July 27. “Movie stars are making movies because they’re ‘independent movies,’ and SAG is allowing it because if they do sell it to streaming, it has to be because streaming is abiding by all the things we’re asking for.”
The comedian quipped: “That’s just working! The strike ends when they come to the table and we make a deal in agreement. So that is going to be what happens.”
Silverman asked the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), “So, you’re just letting people make movies, and movie stars are making movies that you know the goal is to sell them to streaming?” She further argued that the strikes could be “exponentially prolonged, because they have movie stars making movies.”
The Don’t Look Up actress pointed out that when SAG began picketing in July against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) over labor disputes it was supposed to send a message. The Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike, for its part, began fighting the AMPTP in May for similar grievances.
Sarah Silverman. Sam Santos/Shutterstock
“When SAG joined the strike, it [said], ‘Movie stars aren’t making movies for you anymore, now what are you going to do?’ Well, they’re making movies. What the f—k?” Silverman continued, revealing, “I got offered an indie movie, I f—king said ‘No,’ and so did a bunch of my friends, and now some of my friends are saying, ‘Yes.’ I’m really pissed.”
Silverman asked her followers — and fellow actors — to “please, explain to me why I shouldn’t be angry, because people are making real-deal sacrifices.” She expressed frustration for the “writers, actors, crew people, all these people [who] are sacrificing their livelihood for this cause. It’s called union strong, where we are all together.”
The Wreck-It Ralph star called for all actors to join the picket lines because as members of the guild movie stars “have insurance because of your union and you get residuals because of your union. All of these things you get because of your union and you can’t stand with your union?”
Silverman confessed she’s not sure whether she should be “mad at these movie stars making these indie movies that are obviously going to go to streaming” or whether she’s “mad at SAG for making this interim deal for these indie movies” during the strike.
“It’s scabbing, you’ve made that so clear that it’s scabbing,” she concluded. “Now, all of a sudden movie stars can make movies if they’re indie movies where they promise they’ll only sell it if X, Y, and Z. That’s called the end of the strike, motherf—kers!”
Mandy Moore seemingly agreed with Silverman’s take, writing in the comments, “👏👏👏.” Kristin Chenoweth echoed both women’s sentiments, adding, “I don’t understand either.”
Zooey Deschanel, however, argued, “I think we are striking certain particular contractual agreements with the amptp — not all work.”
Silverman’s post came in the wake of Hollywood all but shutting down earlier this month when SAG-AFTRA began striking. According to the union’s strike rules, all SAG actors must stop filming their respective struck projects and cannot promote past, present or future movies and shows until the issues are resolved. (Struck work includes all projects associated with the AMPTP’s major studios, including Walt Disney Studios, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., streaming services such as Netflix and AppleTV+ and principal broadcast networks like ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox.)
The union, however, has since cleared more than 40 independent film projects to continue shooting after making an “Interim Agreement.” Some of these movies include A-list actors like Anne Hathaway, Matthew McConaughey and Paul Rudd. Some TV shows overseas, especially U.K.-based series have continued to film as many of the actors are part of the Equity union and not SAG.
