Grey's Anatomy Star Ellen Pompeo Slams Netflix Over Streaming Residuals: Fans Shocked!
Ellen Pompeo of Grey's Anatomy fame criticizes Netflix for not providing streaming residuals, highlighting the significance of these payments during the ongoing actors' strike She dismisses Netflix's promotional efforts as irrelevant
Grey's Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo has taken to social media to criticize Netflix regarding streaming residuals, which have become a significant issue during the ongoing strikes. SAG-AFTRA, which represents 160,000 members, recently initiated a strike that has resulted in most ongoing productions coming to a standstill. Similarly to the WGA strike, actors are demanding changes and transparency concerning residuals and viewership data on streaming platforms, which are essential points of contention. As Grey's Anatomy consistently ranks among the most-watched acquired shows on Netflix, both these issues would directly impact the cast and crew. Below is a screenshot of Pompeo's social media post where she voices her concerns towards Netflix.
Pompeo screenshotted a post from Netflix's Tiktok account. The post featured a photo of her portraying Meredith Grey along with the caption: "Me when there's a [bomb] in the chest cavity." In response, Pompeo took the same photo of Meredith appearing annoyed and added her own caption. Her caption stated: "Also me when @netflix doesn't pay actors residuals holla let's talk."
Why Residuals Are So Important To The Actors Strike
SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP are currently in a dispute over various issues. These include concerns about protection against A.I., changes to self-taped auditions, and adjustments to minimums in line with inflation. However, one significant point of contention revolves around residuals and the need for more transparency regarding streaming data. This is particularly important for working actors who rely on residuals to qualify for healthcare. Currently, it has become increasingly difficult for actors to meet the $26,000 threshold due to shrinking residuals. Additionally, studios and streamers have been resistant to sharing viewership data for shows, which prevents heavily watched streaming series like Grey's Anatomy from being adequately compensated through residuals. SAG-AFTRA has even proposed using metrics from third-party firms as an alternative solution, but the AMPTP has rejected this idea. It is worth mentioning that Netflix does provide clear viewership data to creators in certain countries.
French program rights owners in France, Luxembourg, and Belgium receive royalties every three months from Netflix, thanks to a 2014 agreement between the streaming platform and SACD, a collective rights management society for authors. According to AllYourScreens.com, these rightsholders receive detailed viewership numbers and payment based on those figures. Hence, Netflix and similar platforms have the capability to be transparent and compensate shows such as Grey's Anatomy appropriately. A strike may be necessary to bring about this change.
