Fran Drescher, the president of the SAG-AFTRA union, is facing criticism for traveling to Italy to attend Dolce & Gabbana's Alta Moda festivities this past weekend as her 160,000-member actors union faces a Thursday deadline to go on strike.
Drescher's appearance at the glamor event was confirmed in an Instagram post that showed her photographed with Kim Kardashian. That prompted criticism from a number of SAG-AFTRA members, as well as members of the Writer Guild of America, which is already on strike against the studios and streaming services.
"Negotiating our possible strike from Italy seems like a strange strategy," tweeted actor Lenny Jacobson.
"Look — I'm not saying one can't have a personal life. And I'm not saying one can't take a vacation. But we are in the middle of the most crucial negotiation in decades and our WGA siblings are on day 70 of fighting for their lives. The optics here are 'truly' awful. Do better." tweeted actress Briana Cap.
"Some real let them eat cake vibes for the SAG-AFTRA members who were marching alongside us WGA members just this morning," tweeted Writers Guild member Taffy Brodesser-Akner.
SAG-AFTRA did not immediately respond to CNN's request for comment early Tuesday about Drescher's appearance. It issued a comment to some other media outlets Monday, saying Dresher's appearance at the Dolce & Gabbana event was part of her commitment to serve as a "brand ambassador," she had been continuing to participate in negotiations, and the union's negotiating committee knew about her trip.
A looming strike
The union had originally been set to go on strike in the early hours of July 1, but just before that deadline the union and management group negotiating on behalf of major studios and streaming services pushed back the deadline to 11:59 pm PT on July 12.
Drescher, star of the 1990s sitcom "The Nanny," had recorded a video before the extension saying that the union had been making progress in the talks. But she and union negotiators are under pressure from rank-and-file members, including some top A-list actors, who have signed a letter urging them to take a hard line in the current negotiations and to be willing to have the union go on strike unless they achieve their goals at the bargaining table.
"A strike brings incredible hardships to so many, and no one wants it," said the letter. "But we are prepared to strike if it comes to that. And we are concerned by the idea that SAG-AFTRA members may be ready to make sacrifices that leadership is not. We hope you've heard the message from us. This is an unprecedented inflection point in our industry, and what might be considered a good deal in any other years is simply not enough."
What the union wants
Besides economic issues, such as pay scales and benefits, the union is pushing for progress on residuals paid for when films or shows are shown again, particularly on streaming services, as well as protections on use of artificial intelligence to create characters using actors' voices or likeness.
After the letter started gaining hundreds of signatures, Drescher signed it as well.
Membership has already voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike, although that in itself is not uncommon during union labor negotiations. Even if a deal is reached, membership ratification would be needed to prevent a strike from starting.
Production of many movies and television shows have already been shutdown by the current writers strike. An actors strike would bring most remaining productions to a halt, other than on some independent films not associated with studios. There has been no visible progress in ending the writers strike since it started on May 2. Now, there are concerns that if the actors join the writers on strike, the shutdowns could stretch through the summer, maybe even through the end of the year.
This could be the first actors strike against television shows and movie productions since 1980. The industry has changed radically since then, when most shows were on just three broadcast networks and movies were only shown first in theaters. Video rental giant Blockbuster hadn't started yet, let alone been forced out of business by streaming.
The Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers (AMPTP), which is negotiating on behalf of the studios, includes Amazon, Apple, CBS, Disney, NBC Universal, Netflix, Paramount Global, Sony and CNN parent company Warner Bros. Discovery Many of those companies have seen drops in their stock price in the last year, prompting deep cost cutting, including layoffs.