“I don’t consider myself to be a martyr”: Heels Star Stephen Amell Regrets His Comments on Sag-Aftra Strike, Wishes They Never Became Public after Public Apology
Stephen Amell, the lead star of Heels and Arrow got himself stuck with a controversial comment on the ongoing SAG-AFTRA Strike. which resulted in him being criticized by his industry peers.
Amid the increasing tension between Hollywood and protesters, Amell’s comment was just like adding fuel to the conflict which said that he doesn’t support the ongoing strike.
However, he later clarified that he is in favor of a strike but still he regrets what he commented.
Stephen Amell’s Controversial Comment on the SAG-AFTRA Strike
Hollywood is currently going through a big stress and many stars including Oppenheimer‘s director Christopher Nolan and actor Matt Damon are among the 180,000 members protesting for justice.
As the strike is going on, Stephen Amell‘s comment has tuned heads of many union members and strike participants which has resulted in him being criticized for his comment.
“I feel like I’m insulated in Hollywood because that’s where I live. I feel like a lot of people in this room aren’t aware of the strike,” Amell said at Raleigh’s GalaxyCon over the weekend. “I support my union, I do, and I stand with them but I do not support striking. I don’t. I think that it is a reductive negotiating tactic and I find the entire thing incredibly frustrating.”
The Flash star shared that the strike is nothing but a “reductive tactic“. He also shared that many people who are in favor of the strike may not be aware of the consequences.
His comment about the strike clearly mentioned his support for the union but not for the strike, this is where the whole controversy of his involvement and support for the strike got noticed.
Stephen Amell Shares His Regret Over His SAG-AFTRA Strike Comments
Ninja Turtles 2 star spiced up the heat after his comment which led many industry peers to criticize.
Participants of the strikes also criticized the star for posting a FaceBook video where he was talking about his previous series, Arrow for which the participants argue that Amell has allegedly violated the rules of the strike.
After facing countless allegations, Amell later clarified that he supports the union as well as the strike. The star commented:
“We live in a time right now and I don’t want to wax too poetic here. Where, you know, people want you to vote as long as you’re voting for their candidate. And I can support my union, but there was an authorization vote for a reason,” Amell said.
“And listen, it was overwhelmingly in favor of striking. It was 98% and I think that there were a lot of people who frankly it was a vote, but I think that it was just kind of the complete that we were willing to authorize that. I just think that this has been done in a very black-and-white, all-or-nothing sort of way and I’m talking about shows and movies that were about to come out before the strike. I’m specifically talking about shows that, you know, I and a bunch of other people pour their heart and soul into that happened to be coming out within a certain window after the strike. I don’t think that some of the consideration that was given to other projects leading up to the strike, and the delay of the strike was given to some other projects that came on the other side, and that’s something that retrospectively.”
The Vampire Diaries star shared that he is in full support of the strike but he is concerned over how the strike is affecting the overall production and release of new TV shows and movies.
“I don’t consider myself to be a martyr, and frankly, I would have preferred that these comments have never been made public, but they did.”
He also shared that he regrets sharing his comment publicly and it could have been better if he had a private conversation with the union members regarding the concern.
Reasons Behind the Hollywood SAG-AFTRA Strike
The SAG-AFTRA strike was first announced back on the 13th of July this year after the American actor’s union failed to negotiate with the production studios to consider providing higher pay as well as tightening the usage of AI in creative projects.
The usage of AI in movies and TV shows has already affected a lot of creative writers and directors.
Besides AI and pay wages, union members have also demanded streaming service giants to reinitiate residual payments-pay for actors.
Source: ComicBook
