Exclusive: George Clooney Shocks SAG-AFTRA With Unseen Details Behind Contract Negotiation Debacle

George Clooney Gotham/FilmMagic/Getty Images

George Clooney was one of the actors who met SAG-AFTRA leaders on October 17 to address the breakdown of contract negotiations on October 11. The meeting, held over Zoom, included discussions with guild president Fran Drescher and union national executive director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland. Other attendees at the meeting included Scarlett Johansson, Emma Stone, Ben Affleck, and Tyler Perry.

Clooney, Johansson, Stone, Affleck, and Perry showed strong support for the union leaders of SAG-AFTRA in their pursuit of a new three-year contract, according to an insider from Deadline. Another source mentioned that the actors actively engaged in the discussions, posing inquiries, providing suggestions, and offering valuable feedback.

Particularly, the actors held a significant interest in securing enhanced revenue sharing from The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). They also took note of the involvement of the four key studio CEOs in the negotiations, namely David Zaslav from Warner Bros. Discovery, Ted Sarandos from Netflix, Donna Langley from NBCUniversal, and Bob Iger from Disney.

The negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America (WGA) started in June, mainly concentrating on additional compensation for actors. The WGA strike began on May 2 and was resolved on September 27. When the second round of talks for the actors' strike resumed on October 2, the utilization of artificial intelligence (AI) and revenue sharing were also significant topics of discussion.

SAG-AFTRA presented a proposal last week regarding the potential benefits for cast members from the popularity of a series or film on streaming platforms. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers opposed the proposal, citing an estimated annual cost of $800 million. Consequently, on October 11, the four CEOs of AMPTP, along with their representatives, left the negotiations and did not resume discussions the following day, contrary to Drescher and Crabtree-Ireland's expectations.

On October 12, the SAG-AFTRA representatives emailed the union members with an update. The email stated that they had significantly revised their revenue share proposal, resulting in a cost of less than 57¢ per subscriber annually for the companies. However, it was mentioned that the proposals were rejected by the 4 CEOs and the AMPTP, who also attempted to use tactics similar to those used against the WGA.

New talks between the AMPTP and SAG-AFTRA have not been scheduled.