Dwayne Johnson donates seven-figure sum to SAG-AFTRA fund
Hollywood’s best-paid actor Dwayne Johnson, otherwise known as ‘The Rock’, has put his money where his mouth is by donating a “seven-figure” sum to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strikes fund.
The money will help support the actors affected by the current situation after the US union, The Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, voted unanimously for strike action after it was revealed no deal had been reached with the AMPTP.
The action began several months after the Writers Guild of America (WGA) began their strike. Now, Johnson has stepped in to help those most vulnerable during this precarious period.
Following the announcement of the strikes on Thursday, July 13th, the union’s president Courtney B Vance and executive director, Cyd Wilson, sent letters to the highest-paid actors requesting monetary aid for their vulnerable peers.
Discussing Johnson’s generous donation in a new statement to Variety, Vance said, “It was a love fest. It’s like, ‘Man, you’re stepping up in a way that is allowing others to know the dire necessity of it’.”
Adding: “This is him saying, ‘In such a time as this, I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere, whatever you need me to do,’ And that sends a huge message to other folks to do the same thing.”
Although the exact sum of Johnson’s donation hasn’t been disclosed, Wilson explained that the donation would reach out to between 7,000 and 10,000 members via the union’s Emergency Financial Assistance Programme.
“It is a call to arms for all of us to know that we just have to step up however you can,” he said. “Dwayne is letting everyone know, ‘I’m here. What are you going to do?'”
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