For Immediate Release
Friday, July 14, 2023
Patriotic Millionaires Applaud SAG-AFTRA Strike and Condemn Overpaid Hollywood Executives
“No one is buying Bob Iger’s fairytale nonsense about how much he and his ultra-wealthy industry peers are suffering.”
Washington, DC – Today, the Patriotic Millionaires applauded the SAG-AFTRA member vote to authorize a strike and reiterated their support for industry workers currently taking on corporate studios, and all workers standing up for the pay and workplace protections they deserve.
Morris Pearl, the Chair of the Patriotic Millionaires and a former managing director at BlackRock, Inc., released the following statement:
“After years of being exploited, Hollywood’s essential workers have finally had enough. Over 160,000 actors and performers of SAG-AFTRA are asking for nothing more than being compensated fairly for their work, which earns billions of dollars for Hollywood studios and streaming services. The Patriotic Millionaires enthusiastically support their fight for better wages and protections in the face of changes brought on by streaming and artificial intelligence.
During the pandemic, Americans looked for human connections while they socially distanced themselves from their friends and loved ones, and turned to TV and movies. The result was explosive profits for streaming services. Unfortunately, however, little of that profit found its way into the hands of the people who actually produced it. Instead, the culprits, including corporate giants like Amazon, Netflix, Disney, and Apple, provide obscene executive compensation and investor returns while pretending they can’t afford to pay writers and actors a fair wage. I don’t want companies I invest in disrupted by a strike either — but the way to prevent it is to treat workers properly, not to try to browbeat them.
Bob Iger, the CEO of Disney and a man with a net worth of about $690 million, says that striking writers and actors aren’t being “realistic” and that the strike is “very disturbing.” I find it more disturbing to see someone making $74,000 a day tell writers who make (on average) $69,000 a year that they need to be realistic about how much they can expect to earn.
No one is buying Bob Iger’s fairytale nonsense about how much he and his ultra-wealthy industry peers are suffering. They’ve brought this strike on themselves, and can end it by putting their egos aside and negotiating in good faith.”
For additional information or interview requests, please contact Emily McCloskey at emily@patrioticmillionaires.