SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher Says AMPTP Suspending Talks “Got here as a Shock to Me”

The AMPTP’s resolution to droop bargaining talks with SAG-AFTRA “actually got here as a shock” to the union’s president Fran Drescher.

“What does that precisely imply and why would you stroll away from the desk? It’s not like we’re asking for something that’s so outrageous,” Drescher stated in an interview with NBC’s Chloe Melas that aired on the At the moment present Friday. “It’s so improper. And it’s so unfair that they walked out of the assembly. And so disrespectful.”

On Thursday, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos stated that talks fell aside after SAG proposed what he known as a “levy” on streaming subscribers. The AMPTP stated that the proposal would value them greater than $800 million per yr.

“That’s an inflated value for that good thing about the press,” Drescher advised Melas. “It elements out to 57 cents per yr per subscriber, lower than a postage stamp.”

“We will’t return to the best way issues have been. It’s unsustainable and my members can now not make a dwelling on this new and unprecedented streaming platform with the outdated construction of cost,” Drescher added. “And they’re going to have to just accept that actuality.”

And synthetic intelligence stays a sticking level, with consent and compensation nonetheless unsure.

“We’re preventing tooth and nail to get them the AI protections that they need,” Drescher stated. “However the very last thing that Sarandos stated after they exited the room yesterday, ‘We don’t like your counter proposal for AI.’ Effectively, you recognize, we’re on the lookout for the protections that these folks deserve. As a result of it’s their likeness. It’s their essence of being. It’s their expertise that’s in jeopardy of being ripped off.”

Within the interview, Drescher framed the guild’s combat as being considerably existential, mirroring her feedback from July when the strike started.

“We’re at a crossroads the place it’s a really harmful time,” she stated. “And it is a essential negotiation. What occurs right here issues.”

SAG-AFTRA canceled all pickets scheduled for Friday in New York Metropolis and Los Angeles, citing “potential security issues which are unrelated to our ongoing strike” after the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas urged supporters to take to the streets in a day of motion in assist of the terrorist assaults in Israel. The actors’ union stated in a submit on social media Thursday, “Keep protected and see you on the picket traces subsequent week.”