Dwayne Johnson Makes an "Historic" Donation to SAG-AFTRA Foundation Relief Fund To Help During Actors' Strike
As the SAG-AFTRA strike enters another week, the union has shared that Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has made the largest-ever donation to the foundation’s relief fund. It’s being called “Historic” and the funds will be used to help union members financially as they face hardships during this time of not being able to work.
SAG-AFTRA Foundation executive director Cyd Wilson shared a statement with Variety, saying: "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.”
She added, "This is how we did this during COVID — some of the biggest stars in our industry stepped up. For him to step up like this is really going to get us started in the fundraising that we're going I need to do, because everything we're hearing and seeing, we feel we have to be prepared that this could go on through the end of the year. We're going to have to be able to help these people in the long run. We have 160,000 SAG-AFTRA performers and that's a lot of people that are going to need our help. This donation is the kickstart we needed in the first week of what we think will be a long haul."
In a previous report, a studio executive came out and said: "The endgame is to allow things to drag on until union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses," which is just insane that they would say that! Another insider called the strategy "a cruel but necessary evil."
There's really no end in sight for both the SAG-AFTRA and Writers Guild of America Strikes. Some reports have suggested that negotiations won't even pick back up until later this year.
It’s great that Johnson showed up to help out in a big way financially. There’s no doubt that the people in the union will appreciate it when those hard times start to hit.