Jamaican-American actress, author, activist, and songbird Sheryl Lee Ralph stood up on behalf of herself and her fellow SAG-AFTRA members with a little help from a certain Rihanna hit.
The Abbott Elementary and Emmy award-winning actress posted a video of herself speaking passionately on Sept. 13 on her Instagram account, using Rihanna’s “Bi**h Better Have My Money” as a prop to emphasize her argument. The event was in support of striking actors and writers.
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“You know why we’re here. You know what we deserve. And in the words of one of our SAG members, ‘Pay us what you owe us. Don’t act like you forgot. Shot shot shots! Aye!,’” Ralph said, utilizing lyrics from the pop 2015 hit.
With roles in films like Battleship, Ocean’s 8, and Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, Rihanna is also a member of SAG.
“What can I say…the spirit of @badgalriri got to me,” Ralph captioned the video, making certain to include the Instagram handle of SAG-AFTRA.
Ralph continued in the address that AP posted on YouTube, “We are the heartbeat of the entertainment industry. You might try to recreate us with AI, but ain’t nothing going to be as fabulous as the human beings that we are.”
A new contract for better pay and working conditions with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers could not be reached, therefore the Screen Actors Guild—American Federation of Television and Radio Artists disbanded on July 14, 2023. Additionally, actors are requesting better health and pension benefits as well as the creation of measures to prevent artificial intelligence from mimicking their appearance.
At the beginning of the strike, Fran Drescher, head of the actor’s union stated, “We are the victims here.” Dresher added, “We are being victimized by a very greedy entity. I am shocked by the way the people that we have been in business with are treating us… It is disgusting; shame on them. You cannot change the business model as much as it has changed and not expect the contract to change, too.”
SAG-AFTRA is not the only union on strike; the Writers Guild of America (WGA) has been as well since May 2023.
