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Topics: News, Celebrity, Film and TV, Dwayne Johnson
Keryn Donnelly
Topics: News, Celebrity, Film and TV, Dwayne Johnson
Dwayne Johnson has proved once again he's a great guy.
The Fast and The Furious star has just made the biggest financial donation to SAG-AFTRA in the union's history.
SAG-AFTRA Foundation President Courtney B. Vance and executive director Cyd Wilson explained that when the strike was announced two weeks ago, they sat down and drafted a letter to the union's highest earning actors explaining the financial support they would need to provide to their 160,000 members during the work stoppage.
“Having been through this during COVID and having such a great response from our own membership to take care of their own, when the strike was decided, Courtney and I sat down with our team and said, ‘Here we go again',” Wilson told Variety.
Wilson continued: “We rely on donations and grants to provide services — we have been very fortunate that we raised enough money to be able to cover all of our programs.
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“But when we hit a crisis like this and we’re going to spend millions and millions of dollars in financial assistance, this is when we need our high profile talent who can afford it, who are in a situation to help others.”
Soon after they sent the letter, The Rock's team reached out and offered to help, so he and Vance jumped on a phone call.
“It was a love fest. It’s like, ‘Man, you’re stepping up in a way that is allowing others to know the dire necessity of it,'” Vance explained to Variety.
“This is him saying, ‘In such a time as this, I’m here and I’m not going anywhere, whatever you need me to do.’ And that sends a huge message to other folks to do the same thing.”
The SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s grants deliver up to $1,500 per individual member and up to $6,000 in an emergency situation, so Johnson's seven-figure donation will directly assist thousands of his fellow actors.
"It’s the largest single donation that we’ve ever received from one individual at one time. And what is amazing is that that one check is going to help thousands of actors keep food on their table, and keep their kids safe, and keep their cars running. And it’s not lost on me that he’s very humble about this, but it is a way to get us started," Wilson said.
SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher announced the union's plans to strike on July 14.
"We stand tall. You have to wake up and smell the coffee. We are labor and we stand tall and we demand respect and to be honored for our contribution. You share the wealth because you cannot exist without us," she said in her speech at the time.
They are striking to demand better pay for their work in the age of streaming.
Loads of people in the entertainment industry have come forward to show how much they're earning for weeks of work.
They argue that since streaming services came in, their pay has been slowly declining and they're not working until they can guarantee better conditions.