Topics: Disney, Film and TV, Marvel, SAG-AFTRA Writers Strike, US News
She-Hulk’s Tatiana Maslany has taken aim at Disney CEO Bob Iger following his comments on the on-going SAG-AFTRA writers’ strike.
As Hollywood shuts down over the industrial action, the Disney CEO said that it was ‘disruptive’ and that the union had expectations that were ‘not realistic’.
Shortly after this, Maslany saw green and angrily responded from the picket lines, calling him ‘out of touch’.
Demonstrating outside the New York office of Netflix last week (24 July), the Orphan Black star was joined by writers, actors and politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
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The 37-year-old, who is currently starring on Broadway in Grey House, expressed her concerns over pay and the low residuals given to cast and crew by streaming giants.
Maslany told The Hollywood Reporter: “I have friends who have been doing this for 30 to 40 years and have lost their health care because the minimums are so relatively low, but wages have gone down, people’s quotes no longer stand for anything.”
“It’s just like we’ve been completely cast aside,” pointedly added the She-Hulk actor, who called Iger ‘out of touch’ over his comments earlier this month.
Continuing, she told the press: “He’s completely out of touch with the workers who make his shows happen, who make people watch these shows, who bring viewers to him and him money.”
Her comments echo those of writer Cody Ziglar, who also worked on the hit Marvel show and received a residual salary of just $396.
It’s unsurprising that there has been a backlash against Iger, whose estimated net worth is around $690 million – according to Forbes.
However, the Disney exec has expressed his concerns about the Writers Guild of America's industrial action, saying that the union were not being ‘realistic’ in the wake of the pandemic.
Speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box earlier this month, Iger confessed that he was worried about the effect of the strike on the entire film and TV industry.
Though he acknowledged the union’s right to strike in the July 13 interview, the exec called the union action ‘disturbing’.
“It’s very disturbing to me,” he admitted, adding: “We’ve talked about disruptive forces on this business and all the challenges we’re facing, the recovery from COVID which is ongoing, it’s not completely back.
"This is the worst time in the world to add to that disruption. There’s a level of expectation that they have, that is just not realistic.
"And they are adding to the set of the challenges that this business is already facing that is, quite frankly, very disruptive.”
With the writers’ strike about to enter its third month, it seems the Disney exec will have no choice but work with unions.
UNILAD has contacted Disney for comment.
