SAG-AFTRA Foundation president Courtney B. Vance announced Wednesday that the nonprofit organization has raised more than $15 million for its emergency financial assistance program, thanks in large part to contributions from more than a dozen of Hollywood’s top-earning stars who’ve donated $1 million or more.
“The entertainment industry is in crisis and the SAG-AFTRA Foundation is currently processing more than 30 times our usual number of applications for emergency aid. We received 400 applications in the last week alone,” Vance said in a statement about the fundraising efforts over the last three weeks. “It’s a massive challenge, but we’re determined to meet this moment.”
Last week, Variety exclusively reported that Dwayne Johnson had contributed a “historic” seven-figure donation, a figure which Vance described as “a call to arms” for everyone to “step up however you can.”
But Johnson is not alone. More than a dozen A-listers have also answered the call, each donating $1 million or more, including George and Amal Clooney; Luciana and Matt Damon; Leonardo DiCaprio; Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness; Nicole Kidman; Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck; Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively; Julia Roberts; Arnold Schwarzenegger; Meryl Streep; and Oprah Winfrey.
“I appealed to our community to remember how tough it was coming up, and the response to help their fellow performers has been incredible, immediate and heartwarming,” Vance said of their contributions, acknowledging Johnson, who “helped kick-start this campaign.”
He then saluted Streep and Clooney, both longtime champions of the foundation and members of its Actors’ Council, who “stepped up with $1 million donations, emails and many calls-to-action rallying others to give generously.”
Thanks to the group’s combined efforts, Vance concluded, “We’ve crushed our initial goal because our people are coming together, but we still aren’t done. Our fundraising will continue in order to meet the overwhelming needs of our community now and in the future.”
Streep and Clooney also shared statements about the urgent need working actors face amid the historic double strike.
“I remember my days as a waiter, cleaner, typist, even my time on the unemployment line,” Streep said, explaining her desire to give back. “In this strike action, 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. I am proudest of my fellow actors who have immediately offered to fund the Emergency Financial Assistance Program.”
Clooney, who released a statement expressing his solidarity with the union when the strike was called on July 13, added: “We stand ready to get back to the table and make a fair deal with the AMPTP. Until then, I’m proud to be able to support the SAG-AFTRA Foundation and my fellow actors who may be struggling in this 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.”
He continued: “I can’t thank Courtney enough for his determination in putting this effort together by shedding light on the human toll happening right now, and how we can work together to alleviate some of the pain and suffering.”
News of the combined eight-figure donation comes as SAG-AFTRA actors hit the picket lines for a third week, while WGA writers have been on strike for more than 90 days. Notably, on the day SAG-AFTRA declared the strike, Damon was making the international press rounds with Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer”; the cast walked out of the London premiere in solidarity.
“It’s really about working actors,” Damon told Variety’s Manori Ravindran on the red carpet. “It’s $26,000 to qualify for health coverage and a lot of people are on the margins and residual payments are getting them across that threshold. This isn’t an academic exercise. This is real life and death stuff. Hopefully we get to a resolution quickly. No one wants a work stoppage, but we’ve got to get a fair deal.”
In the days since, many have questioned why the picket lines have been lacking in star power.
“The real place the A-listers can help is donating to relief funds and lobbying the studio heads behind the scenes,” one agent told Variety’s Matt Donnelly as he reported on the various strategies behind why Hollywood’s biggest names might (or might not) hoist their picket signs.
For information on the SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s Emergency Financial Assistance Program and how to apply, visit sagaftra.foundation/emergencyassistance, and to support the fund, go to sagaftra.foundation/donate.
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