Billy Porter Says Strikes Forced Him to Sell His Home
Some of Hollywood’s biggest names have already begun experiencing the impacts of the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike.
Primetime Emmy Award winner Billy Porter recently shared with the UK’s Evening Standard, “I have to sell my house because we’re on strike.” The actor expressed what many feared, adding, “And I don’t know when we’re gonna go back [to work].”
On May 2, 2023, the Writers Guild of America, representing 11,500 screenwriters, went on strike after failing to reach a contract agreement with television producers. On July 14th, actors joined the picket lines.
The “Like a Boss” star shared that “until you make f--- you money — which I haven't made yet” life for many actors “is still check-to-check.” The 53-year-old revealed that he “was supposed to be in a new movie, and on a new television show starting in September,” however in light of the protest, “None of that is happening."
The “Pose” star didn't hold back from addressing those up top. Porter addressed an anonymous Hollywood executive who shared plans to drag out the strike until writers and actors were forced to sell their homes.
“So to the person who said, ‘We’re going to starve them out until they have to sell their apartments’? You’ve already starved me out.”
He also delivered a resounding "F–k you" directed at Disney CEO Bob Iger following his comments that the writers’ and actors’ demands were “unrealistic.”
“To hear Bob Iger say that our demands for a living wage are unrealistic? While he makes $78,000 a day?” the actor said. “I don’t have any words for it, but: F–k you. That’s not useful, so I’ve kept my mouth shut. I haven’t engaged because I’m so enraged.”
Porter is currently in London co-producing a musical but says he “will join the picket lines” when he returns home.
