Celebs donate millions to SAG-AFTRA emergency fund amid strike
George and Amal Clooney, former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), Leonardo DiCaprio, Oprah Winfrey and Dwayne Johnson are among the Hollywood stars giving big bucks to help SAG-AFTRA members during the actors’ union strike.
The SAG-AFTRA Foundation announced Wednesday that it had raised more than $15 million for its emergency financial assistance program in the last three weeks.
Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck, Nicole Kidman, Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively, Matt and Luciana Damon, and Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness have all given at least $1 million to the fund, according to the nonprofit.
SAG-AFTRA, which boasts more than 160,000 members, voted to strike last month after negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers failed. The union is attempting to gain wage increases and better working conditions for its members.
SAG-AFTRA Foundation President Courtney B. Vance said Wednesday that the group has been processing more than 30 times its usual number of applications for emergency aid during the work stoppage.
“We received 400 applications in the last week alone,” Vance said in a statement. The financial aid, he said, is aimed at ensuring that “performers in need don’t lose their homes, have the ability to pay for utilities, buy food for their families, purchase life-saving prescriptions, cover medical bills and more.”
Vance credited “Black Adam” star Johnson with kick-starting the celebrity giving campaign with a seven-figure donation.
In a statement, Academy Award winner Streep said, “I am lucky to be able to support those who will struggle in a long action to sustain against Goliath.”
“We will stand strong together against these powerful corporations who are bent on taking the humanity, the human dignity, even the human out of our profession,” Streep said.
“Ticket to Paradise” actor Clooney said his donation would assist “my fellow actors who may be struggling in his historic moment.”
“We’ve stood on the shoulders of the likes of Bette Davis and Jimmy Cagney and it’s time for our generation to give something back,” Clooney said, adding entertainers can “work together to alleviate some of the pain and suffering.”