You won’t see George Clooney, Meryl Streep and other Hollywood A-listers on the picket lines as part of the SAG-AFTRA strikes, but they have donated $15m to the striking actor’s fund.
As the strike continues into its fourth week, the union’s charitable foundation announced Wednesday it had raised more than $15 million in the past three weeks alone.
And there’s a good reason why these big names are not joining the picket lines:
“It’s not necessarily to our advantage for the people who are the most successful, wealthy and visible to be taking up space right now,” said another entrenched SAG-AFTRA member. “We already have a perception problem where people say, ‘These are just a bunch of rich actors.’ Those stars don’t work for scale pay; they don’t need the protection of a better contract. If Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston show up, they look like they’re crying poor.”
The other big names who contributed at least $1 million include Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Hugh Jackman, Ryan Reynolds, Nicole Kidman and Julia Roberts..
Remember, despite the huge salaries of Hollywood’s biggest stars, more than 86 percent of the union’s 160,000 members earn less than $26,500 a year.