#i stand with the actors

[izhunny]

So after seeing this tweet from 4-ish hours ago I had a think. If I understand this correctly...

If this indicates they are indeed going on strike, word-of-mouth will become the only means of promotion for already completed works being released or awaiting a scheduled release caught in this struggle. No actors on red carpet at premieres, no promo junkets with fan service, or interviews about projects so many have worked so hard to create. Actors will be committed to no work of any kind(including promos) moving forward from the stoppage of a strike.

Word-of-mouth by the public will become make or break for the duration for these unlucky works in the interim.

Please, let us all pay attention and support these unions in seeking better working conditions and commensurate pay by following their lead. Whatever that lead is, including supporting works already produced.

#sag-aftra #union solidarity #wga strike #aim your displeasure at the companies trying to bust unions #not at those who simply want to create under fair conditions with reasonable pay for that work #it is neither the writers nor actors fault for this situation #i stand with the writers #i stand with the actors #the SAG-AFTRA national board has not voted yet but seem poised to do so in favor of a strike at time of posting #watch the union for updates and official releases not gossip columns

[mellometal]

Here we go again...Jesus tap-dancing Christ. This is a lot longer than I wanted it to be.

Hey.  I haven’t been able to make any posts related to Dhar Mann over the past several months.  I needed to make my mental health a priority over a guy whose presence literally makes my blood boil. (Also...side note: I have said this multiple times before, I don’t always want to discuss this individual or anyone associated with him. I don’t want to be restricted to talking about one topic. /notmad)  I’ve also been going through a lot, as a lot of you know.  You’re probably not here for me to tell you about why the posts about this individual and anyone related to him have halted, so I’m gonna cut to the chase.

This is an important topic, as almost every single actor who has worked under Dhar Mann is protesting against him due to him not paying them a liveable wage.  Y’know, despite racking in a shit ton of ad revenue that’s around $25k or something like that.  Hey, aren’t you a multimillionaire?  I know damn well you can afford to pay the actors a liveable wage for their time and ensure they can pay for essentials, like I don’t know, A ROOF OVER THEIR HEADS! I’ll be linking as many videos talking about this subject from some of the actors themselves and through YouTube commentators as Tumblr will let me link. As I’ve mentioned in passing, I haven’t watched any videos Dhar Dhar Binks has made in the past few months because hate watching his videos will only line his pockets and hurt the actors. Especially now.

Dhar Mann has been firing people for speaking negatively about the conditions of the studio and the pay.  This has been through emails (a few people’s emails have been put up on social media, which is super unprofessional and can be dangerous for the people whose emails were posted online).  Instead of taking criticism and actually trying to make things right for the people who have made his channels successful, he doubles down on all the “positive” experiences that some of the actors have had with him.  One of them notably being Katherine Norland, which considering how problematic she is outside of working for Dhar Mann, I’m not at all surprised.  Two birds of the same feather flock together.  She talked about how her experience working with Dhar Mann has been great.  Hey, Katherine, not everyone has the same experience as you.  But I bet you like playing the bigoted Karen roles you get, huh?  Figures.  

Here’s a five minute clip of a FORTY-FIVE MINUTE VIDEO she made. I already have a headache listening to her spew typical Boomer/Boomer 2.0 (A LOT of Gen X...mainly elder Gen X) bullshit.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRnqHuvd/

All I gotta say is: Okay, Boomer. Lay off the Kool-aid. (She probably isn’t a Boomer, but she sure talks like one.)

Another actor I’ve seen speaking more on neutral ground, but still defending Dhar Mann low-key is Melvin.  To sum up what Melvin said, he basically said that Dhar Mann’s “a good guy (to him)”, DM “shouldn’t be canceled”, he saw where the actors who were protesting were coming from, and “everything’s gonna get solved”. The clip where he talks about this is below:

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRnqD1pv/

According to Colin A. Borden, who has worked with Dhar Mann as an actor for the past few years, he stated on his social media platforms that a lot of the actors, himself included (most likely, I’m not sure), can’t even afford rent with how little Dhar Mann pays the actors.  This was when he was talking about why actors are protesting at the moment.  He’s not the only actor I’m going to be naming.  A few other notable actors protesting are Mair Mulroney, Rachel, and a couple others.  I linked a few of their videos below.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRnVcm4A/ (Colin's video)

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRnVvEK5/ (One of Mair's videos)

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRnVGLaB/ (Nathan's video, where he talks about why the contracts and payments are bad.)

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRnqNyPd/ (A compilation of actors protesting.) (TW: There are whistles being blown.)

According to other actors who have come forward with their experiences with this individual (Rachel being one of them), they would work twelve to fifteen hour days for the wage of eighteen dollars per hour (for non-speaking roles) or thirty-three to forty-four dollars per hour (for speaking roles).  To my understanding, this was a few times a week.  This kind of schedule is not sustainable.  These actors can’t even afford to pay their rent, like I have mentioned before.  Dhar Mann can lie his ass off about how he pays everyone fairly all he wants, but you know I’m going to believe the actors over him any day.   

Clip from a livestream where Rachel is talking about pay:

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRnqBSrF/

“Eighteen dollars an hour for a non-speaking role?  Thirty-three to forty-four dollars an hour for a speaking role?  That sounds great!  What’s the problem with that?”

Getting paid eighteen dollars an hour (for non-speaking roles), or getting paid thirty-three dollars to forty-four dollars (for speaking roles) for twelve to fifteen hours a day a few times a week sounds like a lot of money, but that’s further from the truth.  Let me explain. 

If they’re only there for twelve to fifteen hours a few times a week, to paint a better picture, and they’re paid semi-monthly, the people with non-speaking roles would only get around $1,440 every two weeks, and the people with speaking roles would get around $2,640 - $3,520 every two weeks. (NOTE: These are only estimated amounts. I used 80 hours here in total for the two weeks, and used a tax calculator based in California, where they work. This is given that their hours actually equal forty hours per week. The hours are variable, as Nathan has said in his video talking about this subject. The actors could actually be getting paid less than the estimated amounts I put up.)  This is before taxes are taken out, hypothetically, if Dhar Mann or anyone who handles payroll is actually doing their job.  After taxes are taken out, the extras would only be getting $1,132 every two weeks, and actors in speaking roles would be getting $1,923 - $2,456 every two weeks.  He pays everyone out through PayPal…instead of at least giving them a pay card where he can put their paychecks onto or letting them use their banks through direct deposit, or giving them paper checks so they can deposit their earnings into their bank accounts.

The average person’s rent in all of California was around $1,818 back in 2021.  That’s not including utilities, insurance, and other bills.  They’re pretty much scraping by to survive if they’re living on their own.  Those are some “competitive wages”, huh?  Get over yourself, Dhar.  You’re fucking cheap and you can’t manage to pay the people who made your shitty channel huge fairly.  Just admit that.

Another thing that I need to mention is them painting a mural to honor an actor who passed away, then taking it down a few days later. The reason for this wasn’t really made clear. Something about the landlord saying to take it down, or they needed that space for a video. Whatever the reason is, it’s not cool to paint a mural dedicated to an actor that you’re not even gonna keep up. It gives off the impression that you only did it for clout. Just saying.

ETA: This is new information that I found from doing more research. Carl Judie, according to Riki (who was close to him), was actually planning on leaving before his death due to how he was being treated. His loved ones do not want Carl’s face to be anywhere in Dhar Mann’s studios. This is the video where Riki discussed Carl:

Another actor came forward to speak about how Dhar Mann was practicing a scene with her for a TikTok and he was chasing after her with a real knife instead of a prop knife. 

Clip from a livestream:

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRnqPsCm/

A child actor (Brianni) talked about how she was fired because she has medical issues THAT DHAR MANN WAS WELL AWARE OF. Her video is below:

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRnqmUTd/

Riki, one of the major actors in his shitty videos refused to do any more videos that have to do with race and she got less work as a result.  A black woman not wanting to do videos about race?  *gasp* How will Dhar Mann ever recover from this? /s Oh, I wonder…I will be linking her video where she explains why she stopped doing any more videos that have to do with race.  She explains it a lot better than I can. Her video is linked below:

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRnqRnSn/

Actors are generally unionized to prevent this kind of thing from happening (i.e., paying dramatically low wages and an overall unhealthy work environment), but the way Dhar Mann runs shit, it’s not unionized.  Fearing that you will lose your job if you’re critical of the boss in any capacity or you speak out about work conditions is not a healthy work environment.  Nobody should be having to walk on eggshells and be afraid of losing their job if they say anything.  There’s a thing called the whistleblower act, which is there to protect employees from being attacked by their superiors for speaking out about what is wrong with the workplace. Dhar Mann has apparently been threatening actors who have spoken out against him with lawsuits on top of all this. So that’s cool. /s

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRnVTBkV/ (A video of actors protesting that Mair recorded talking about what/why they're protesting.) (TW: There are whistles being blown.)

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRnqPWbV/ (Protest video Nick recorded.) (TW: There are whistles being blown.)

I’ve seen people write off Dhar Mann literally breaking labor laws as his actions simply being ‘show business’, as well as invalidate the actors coming forward to talk about their experiences all because they’re independent contractors who Dhar Mann calls every now and then.  “Every now and then”, MORE LIKE EVERY DAY.  You do realize there aren’t just adult actors working in his studios, right?  There are child actors who are working under Dhar Mann too, and they should be getting paid fairly for their work.  Or else Dhar Mann’s gonna get into legal trouble again.  Either with a series of lawsuits involving the actors he fired suing his ass, the IRS coming after him, or he’s gonna serve jail time.  Either way, he’s in deep shit.  The reason why I say he’s breaking labor laws is because he’s (probably) not paying the kids who work for him fairly either. Quite a few of them appear to be elementary school age or middle school age, around maybe eight years old to possibly thirteen or fourteen years old. Maybe he shows the literal children working for him some mercy...because most of the people who watch his videos are children. I don’t know. Apparently they were supposed to stop casting actors who are minors (under eighteen years old), but there are QUITE a few kids working under this cringe ass nae-nae baby. So...that’s pretty fishy.

According to sources from commentators like AugustTheDuck and Jarvis Johnson, none of the actors who have worked under Dhar Mann have ever (allegedly) received a 1099 form for their tax returns from DM. 

Both videos AugustTheDuck made:

First one

Second one

The video Jarvis Johnson made:

A 1099 form, for anyone who has never heard of it before, is a form that independent contractors receive by the end of the year usually.  In this case, DM has (allegedly) not given any of his actors their 1099 forms, and it is mid-February (as I was typing this...it is now the end of February).  With independent contractors, which is what the actors who work under Dhar Mann are classified as, the maximum they can be paid without getting a 1099 form (1099-NEC, formerly known as 1099-MISC, and/or a 1099-K) is about six hundred dollars a year.  This was before the IRS changed the rules about that.  Clearly they are making WELL over $600 a year.  You know what Dhar Mann had to say about that?  PAYPAL should’ve given out 1099 forms to his actors, not HIM.  The payer (Dhar Mann, or anyone who handles payroll) is responsible for sending out 1099-NEC forms to his actors and the IRS.  PayPal is only responsible for sending out 1099-K forms to people using PayPal for business as well as the IRS if you made over $20,000 that year, or you made over 200 transactions.  Dhar Mann has made well over $20,000, and he has made well over 200 transactions. Clearly.  Please correct me if I’m wrong, but shouldn’t the actors be getting both forms? I feel like they should be getting both of those forms.

Every time the actors would band together to try having a meeting with Dhar Mann to discuss their grievances with their work environment as well as their pay, he’s nowhere to be found and he tells them to forward their grievances with HR.  They have sent Dhar Mann letters through hard copies and emails directly to him, which were forwarded over to HR.  HR scheduled a meeting for the actors to discuss their grievances and they wanted Dhar Mann to be present, as he was the person they were having issues with.  The meeting kept being postponed multiple times.  By the time the meeting came, Dhar Mann was nowhere to be seen.  He was obviously not present for the meeting he was supposed to attend.  Why?  HE WAS CONVENIENTLY ON VACATION.  Wooooowwww.  Your company is not big enough to where you can’t realistically be reached.

You think you’re too good to show your face to people who have worked for you for years, listen to their grievances, and try to come up with a solution, don’t you, Dhar?  If you’re such a big, important man, why can’t you be an actual boss and show up to meetings that you’re supposed to attend?  Oh, is it because the vast majority of the actors (former and current) are understandably pissed about how little they’re being paid by you?  Is it because the vast majority of the actors are sick of your shit?  Sounds like you can’t handle any sort of criticism from people who have worked for you for so long.  You know, I had an inkling that this kind of thing was happening behind the scenes before ANY of the actors came forward.  Then to find out that inkling I had was right all along…that’s not a good thing, Dhar Mann!  I thought you learned your lesson from getting in trouble for committing fraud almost ten years ago!  GUESS NOT.  It’s all come full circle.  

You paint yourself as a good guy, but you treat the people who have made your sorry excuses for channels huge like shit.  How the fuck do you sleep at night?  How do you think this is okay to do to people?  Do they not deserve to have enough money to be able to live somewhat comfortably with the means to pay for essentials? Hmm…let’s talk more about how you fired one of your actors for having medical issues that you were made aware of.  That’s against the law, under the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act).  In California, the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) protects disabled workers.  But you’re all about supporting disabled people! That’s what you preach, right?  You know…until you have to work alongside them or you have to accommodate them in some way. Then disabled people are just a huge inconvenience for you. It’s too much to ask for you to properly accommodate anyone with medical issues, apparently. It’s such a hassle to check on anyone with medical issues that work under you and make sure they’re okay. Gotcha. /s

Summary:

Dhar Mann, multimillionaire, doesn’t pay his employees fairly!

Dhar Mann, Big Boss™️, gets all butthurt because his employees are speaking out against him! He fires everyone who speaks poorly about him and/or about the work environment instead of putting in the effort to come up with solutions! That’s just TOO MUCH to ask out of The Big Boss™️! /s

He will live to regret his decision.

#tw dhar mann #dhar mann talk #protestdharmann #i stand with the actors #the actors deserve better #this just in...dhar mann is STILL a piece of shit #dhar mann will live to regret his decision uwu #anti dhar mann #dhar mann fam dni #dhar mann is a fraud #this is very long #fuck dhar mann #Youtube

[thecraggus]

#SAGAFTRAstrong #WGAstrong

#sag aftra #i stand with the wga #i stand with sag aftra #wga strike #actors strike #writers strike

[thetimelordbatgirl]

Imagine actually being so evil that you'd rather make sure your writers suffer financially instead of just paying them the pay they deserve. Hell truly has some seats reserved already, holy shit.

#writers guild of america #wga #wga strike #i stand with the wga #would love to know what studio that dude works for #just for reasons you know #like we seriously need that actors strike now #truly screw over hollywood if they willing to do this

[fans4wga]

26 September: thread by WGA member David Slack

Twitter thread by David Slack @/slack2thefuture:

"As WGA leaders meet today to finalize our deal, we begin a new era for writers — and for labor in our industry. But we also begin to face the final and most insidious form of unionbusting propaganda: a years-long effort to sell the lie that our strike was not worth it.

Over the coming days, months, and years, the studios, streamers, and their surrogates will take every opportunity to undermine what we have won together. They will seize on the inevitable consessions and compromises made by our NegCom as proof that we “failed.”

They will urge us to overlook all that we won through hard work and unwavering solidarity. They will claim it wasn’t enough, that we should have gotten X instead of Y, that we lost more by striking than we gained in this new contract. And they will be wrong.

They will tell us that the strike was unnecessary, it was a waste of our time and our savings, that our agents or managers or lawyers could have gotten us everything we won through individual negotiations without anyone having to walk a picket line. Well… then why didn’t they?

As hard as it is to believe right now, these lies can work. They’ve worked before. During our 2017 strike authorization vote, it was shocking to discover how many members believed we lost the ‘07-08 strike, in which we went on strike for the internet — and won the internet.

This didn’t happen by accident. It was the result of years of whispering by studios and anti-union allies. And they don’t just do it because they’re bitter about losing. They push the lie that we used our power and lost because they hope to stop us from using our power to win.

Our strike was necessary because, in our individual negotiations, our employers consistently refused to acknowledge our right and reasonable demands. Because the profound changes we needed could only be won through the unique and overwhelming power of collective bargaining.

Our strike was necessary because our employers made it necessary by driving our income down 23% in 10 years. Because they refused to address free work in features, streaming coverage in comedy-variety, the abuses of mini-rooms and the threat of AI until we withheld our labor

Our strike was necessary. Our strike was effective. Our strike is a victory. If anyone tries to tell you otherwise, it’s ‘cause they never want to see us stand up for ourselves again. Don’t believe it. We won this fight. We’re the WGA, and when we fight, we win. #WGAStrong"

#wga strike #writers strike #union solidarity #i stand with the wga #sag-aftra strike #actors strike #wga strong #current events #david slack #long post #fans4wga

[astonishment-and-dread]

Stand with the entertainment unions to the end

#i stand with the wga #sag aftra #writers strike #writers guild strike #sag aftra strike #writers guild of america #screen actors guild

[theoldkyokodied]

One wedding and three funerals

Background paintings under the cut

#tomgreg #succession #tom wambsgans #greg hirsch #shiv roy #roman roy #kendall roy #yeah no im not tagging everyone thats too much #this is me going 'how much implications themes and symbolism can i fit in one painting' #yes i gave rose shivs haircolor. if we ever find out how she looks like and its not like this im just gonna pass away i guess #but yeah i hope yall connect the dots #i put waaay too much thought and work into this. i was googling pictures of all the actors as kids just for reference (sigh) #honestly kinda wanted to make tom and greg link pinkies as like. a pinkie promise. but that was too hard to draw in this angle #at least not without obstructing the view of the ring which is important to see so ya #my fave is actually the tomshiv wedding pic i went off with that. i love them... they should have run away to become sheep farmers fr fr #anyway im so glad im done with this UGH!! finally i can draw smth else without being like oh noooo i need to finish this #i see a lot of you wondering why there is no portrait of logan but one of ewan #it's bc the placement of the painting represent their standing. logans portray would not hang next to the stairs #his present portrait hangs at the end of it. all the way up at the top. alone and withering away #basically the picture you see underneath ewan to the right? its where toms parents would be. the right side of the wall is tom and gregs #and the left one is the roy siblings theirs. since they grew up rich rich. and tom and greg didn't #but ya thats why ewan hangs here and logan does not :)

[zivazivc]

the JD loosing touch with society adventures

imagine him rattling and sweating more and more the longer this goes on

While I patiently wait for @picory to make his 'how JD and Rhonda met' animatic I had to get this stupid idea out of my system...

bonus:

next step: they steal the car

#i can't even tell if this is funny anymore i spent too much time on it #trolls #dreamworks trolls #trolls 3 #trolls band together #trolls john dory #trolls oc #i guess #that scorpion really is a creature i created huh #i made it just so jd had something to stand on but now i kinda love the guy #i think jd would call him scorporal #i just came up with that because i'm just that good #scorporal #my art #the eric andre show #harry's car place #i don't trust like that #this clip is the only thing i think about when someone mentions jd's voice actor

[queerism1969]

#wga strong #lgbtq #lgbtqia #lgbtq community #nonbinary #sapphic #nonbinary lesbian #lesbian #gay girls #lgbt pride #queer #support the wga #wga solidarity #wga strike #i stand with the wga #sag aftra strike #actors strike #writers strike #sag strike #sag aftra #sag strong #writers guild of america #amptp

[illegalvampire]

Studios: But your favorite shows will never be finished!!1!!!1! :((((

Everyone: You never finished shows anyway???

#writers strike #wga strike #sag strike #there are so many acrronyms but they're all on strike!!! #i stand with the wga #writers #actors

[nottawriter]

Twitter post by Kelly_McKernan:

If we don’t fight back against predatory practices and exploitation against AI right now, than what was it all for? Raise a ruckus. Let’s do this.

#wga strike #wga west #wga east #support the wga #i stand with the wga #sag strike #sag aftra #IASTE #actors #artists #writers #photography #programmers #journalist #animation #writers strike #writers and readers

[1-800-vampires]

#writers strike #screen actors guild #wga strike #sag strike #I STAND IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE STRIKING WRITERS AND ACTORS #castiel

[mellometal]

I know you’re probably not in the mood for some Dhar Mann shit right now but currently there’s news going on that DM hasn’t been paying his actors and they’re making a protest about it. What do you think about that?

Yeah, I just saw one of the actors talking about her experience with someone on a live stream off of TikTok. I'm considering making a post to discuss that topic. I just need to look more into it, as this is fairly new and I don't know how long this will be going on.

He's violating labor laws, I know that much. Considering his history of committing fraud, I wouldn't be shocked if DM gets in trouble again. Especially considering there are children working under him too. I think he'd get in deeper shit just because of the kids alone. People use the excuse that the actors are under a contract and that "It's show biz!", but they're completely missing the point. It doesn't matter if the actors are contracted or not. It sure as hell doesn't matter if it's "show biz" or not. DM still needs to pay the actors a liveable wage for their time. They have every right to protest. I honestly don't blame them. If he "pays his actors well", like he's claimed, why's he taking vacations to avoid everyone? Seems pretty fishy to me.

He's a multimillionaire. DM is very capable of paying the actors fairly. He's just choosing not to.

#tw dhar mann #dhar mann talk #dhar mann is a fraud #the actors deserve better #i stand with the actors #he's really coming full circle with all these financial crimes isn't he?

[demigoddessqueens]

The agreement is tentative!!! Keep going strong writers and actors!!

#wga strong #wga #i stand with the wga #wga solidarity #wga strike #wga support #wga 2023 #writers guild of america #writers strike #writers guild strike #sag afra strike #sag aftra #hollywood strike #sag strong #sag solidarity #sag strike #unions #support the wga #screen actors strike #screen actors guild #pro union #union solidarity #support unions #union strong #hot labor summer

[thetimelordbatgirl]

Bob Iger saying all this while also being on basically billionaires vacation really should say something, holy shit.

#writers guild of america #screen actors guild american federation of television and radio artists #wga #sag aftra #wga strike #sag aftra strike #i stand with the wga #i stand with the sag aftra #disney wouldn't even be alive nowadays if it won't for the creatives behind it #and yet bob wants to keep refusing to pay them what they deserve #while also giving himself a nice bonus with his contract being extended #same energy as in the UK the MPs wanting double their pay while everyone else suffers

[fans4wga]

"The studios thought they could handle a strike. They might end up sparking a revolution"

by Mary McNamara

"If you want to start a revolution, tell your workers you’d rather see them lose their homes than offer them fair wages. Then lecture them about how their “unrealistic” demands are “disruptive” to the industry, not to mention disturbing your revels at Versailles, er, Sun Valley.

Honestly, watching the studios turn one strike into two makes you wonder whether any of their executives have ever seen a movie or watched a television show. Scenes of rich overlords sipping Champagne and acting irritated while the crowd howls for bread rarely end well for the Champagne sippers.

This spring, it sometimes seemed like the Hollywood studios represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers were actively itching for a writers’ strike. Speculations about why, exactly, ran the gamut: Perhaps it would save a little money in the short run and show the Writers Guild of America (perceived as cocky after its recent ability to force agents out of the packaging business) who’s boss.

More obviously, it might secure the least costly compromise on issues like residuals payments and transparency about viewership.

But the 20,000 members of the WGA are not the only people who, having had their lives and livelihoods upended by the streaming model, want fair pay and assurances about the use of artificial intelligence, among other sticking points. The 160,000 members of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists share many of the writers’ concerns. And recent unforced errors by studio executives, named and anonymous, have suddenly transformed a fight the studios were spoiling for into a public relations war they cannot win.

Even as SAG-AFTRA representatives were seeing a majority of their demands rejected despite a nearly unanimous strike vote, a Deadline story quoted unnamed executives detailing a strategy to bleed striking writers until they come crawling back.

Days later, when an actors’ strike seemed imminent, Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger took time away from the Sun Valley Conference in Idaho not to offer compromise but to lecture. He told CNBC’s David Faber that the unions’ refusal to help out the studios by taking a lesser deal is “very disturbing to me.”

“There’s a level of expectation that they have that is just not realistic,” Iger said. “And they are adding to the set of the challenges that this business is already facing that is, quite frankly, very disruptive.”

If Iger thought his attempt to exec-splain the situation would make actors think twice about walking out, he was very much mistaken. Instead, he handed SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher the perfect opportunity for the kind of speech usually shouted atop the barricades.

“We are the victims here,” she said Thursday, marking the start of the actors’ strike. “We are being victimized by a very greedy entity. I am shocked by the way the people that we have been in business with are treating us. I cannot believe it, quite frankly: How far apart we are on so many things. How they plead poverty, that they’re losing money left and right, when giving hundreds of millions of dollars to their CEOs. It is disgusting. Shame on them. They stand on the wrong side of history at this very moment.”

Cue the cascading strings of “Les Mis,” bolstered by images of the most famous people on the planet walking out in solidarity: the cast of “Oppenheimer” leaving the film’s London premiere; the writers and cast of “The X-Files” reuniting on the picket line.

A few days later, Barry Diller, chairman and senior executive of IAC and Expedia Group and a former Hollywood studio chief, suggested that studio executives and top-earning actors take a 25% pay cut to bring a quick end to the strikes and help prevent “the collapse of the entire industry.”

When Diller is telling executives to take a pay cut to avoid destroying their industry, it is no longer a strike, or even two strikes. It is a last-ditch attempt to prevent le déluge.

Yes, during the 2007-08 writers’ strike, picketers yelled noncomplimentary things at executives as they entered their respective lots. (“What you earnin’, Chernin?” was popular at Fox, where Peter Chernin was chairman and chief executive.) But that was before social media made everything more immediate, incendiary and personal. (Even if they have never seen a movie or TV show, one would think that people heading up media companies would understand how media actually work.)

Even at the most heated moments of the last writers’ strike, executives like Chernin and Iger were seen as people who could be reasoned with — in part because most of the executives were running studios, not conglomerations, but mostly because the pay gap between executives and workers, in Hollywood and across the country, had not yet widened to the reprehensible chasm it has since.

Now, the massive eight- and nine-figure salaries of studio heads alongside photos of pitiably small residual checks are paraded across legacy and social media like historical illustrations of monarchs growing fat as their people starve. Proof that, no matter how loudly the studios claim otherwise, there is plenty of money to go around.

Topping that list is Warner Bros. Discovery Chief Executive Davd Zaslav. Having re-named HBO Max just Max and made cuts to the beloved Turner Classic Movies, among other unpopular moves, Zaslav has become a symbol of the cold-hearted, highly compensated executive that the writers and actors are railing against.

The ferocious criticism of individual executives’ salaries has placed Hollywood’s labor conflict at the center of the conversation about growing wealth disparities in the U.S., which stokes, if not causes, much of this country’s political divisions. It also strengthens the solidarity among the WGA and SAG-AFTRA and with other groups, from hotel workers to UPS employees, in the midst of disputes during what’s been called a “hot labor summer.”

Unfortunately, the heightened antagonism between studio executives and union members also appears to leave little room for the kind of one-on-one negotiation that helped end the 2007-08 writers’ strike. Iger’s provocative statement, and the backlash it provoked, would seem to eliminate him as a potential elder statesman who could work with both sides to help broker a deal.

Absent Diller and his “cut your damn salaries” plan, there are few Hollywood figures with the kind of experience, reputation and relationships to fill the vacuum.

At this point, the only real solution has been offered by actor Mark Ruffalo, who recently suggested that workers seize the means of production by getting back into the indie business, which is difficult to imagine and not much help for those working in television.

It’s the AMPTP that needs to heed Iger’s admonishment. At a time when the entertainment industry is going through so much disruption, two strikes is the last thing anyone needs, especially when the solution is so simple. If the studios don’t want a full-blown revolution on their hands, they’d be smart to give members of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA contracts they can live with."

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