SAG-AFTRA Officially Goes On Strike After Negotiations End With No Deal

It's official: SAG-AFTRA is going on strike, beginning Thursday at midnight PT, after contract talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers ended without a new deal.

The strike action was confirmed during a press conference Thursday. Watch SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher's impassioned speech here.

Contract negotiations between SAG-AFTRA — the labor union representing more than 160,000 performers — and the AMPTP began in early June, with SAG-AFTRA's most recent contract set to expire on June 30. When that date arrived, though, both sides agreed to extend their negotiations for just under two weeks, paving the way for a strike to begin at midnight PT on Wednesday, July 12, if a new deal was not reached.

Among the key issues on the table, according to our sister publication Variety, are "streaming residuals, artificial intelligence, and pension and health contributions." In June, more than 1,000 actors — including A-list names like Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lawrence — signed a letter to SAG-AFTRA, urging their union to secure a "transformative" deal with studios and streamers and confirming their intention to strike if the deal wasn't made.

This will mark the first time since 1960 that Hollywood's actors and writers have been on strike simultaneously. The Writers Guild of America has been on strike since May 2, following months of unsuccessful negotiations with the AMPTP. With both unions now walking off the job at the same time, summertime industry events like San Diego Comic-Con and the Television Critics Association press tour have been upended, as has the 2023 fall TV season.