Zachary Levi slammed after saying strike rules are “dumb”
Warner Bros.Shazam actor Zachary Levi has publicly criticised the recent rules of the SAG-AFTRA strikes, calling them “dumb.”
Hollywood has been in turmoil these past few months, from the WGA strike that began in May, to the “historic director’s deal,” and now actors are joining the fight against exploitative executives.
The SAG-AFTRA strikes began last month after pay and work condition negotiation attempts failed between the union and big Hollywood studios. As part of the strike, actors can no longer work on any major feature films or scripted television, and they cannot promote any of their projects that fall under those contracts.
However, this inability to talk publicly about their projects has seemingly rubbed some actors the wrong way, including Zachary Levi, star of Shazam! and Tangled. Though his reaction to the rules rubbed the internet the wrong way too.
Zachary Levi angers Twitter with comments over strike
This week, a video began circulating of Levi on stage at Manchester Comic-Con, in which the actor laments that “I’m not allowed to talk about…. This is so dumb. I’m not allowed to talk about any of my previous work.”
“I’m not allowed to talk about movies that I may be a superhero in. I’m not allowed to talk about TV shows that I may have been a nerd who worked at a Best Buy. I’m not allowed to talk about any animated princess movies that I was fantastic in — as the best prince ever! I’m not allowed to talk about those things.”
Not much context is given surrounding the clip, but his comments could be taken as a joke about the strike rules, rather than legitimate criticism. However, the video naturally got a negative reaction from many social media users, particularly from those who support the strikes.
Due to this negative reaction, Levi later issued a statement that he did support the strikes, and that the quote had been taken out of context: “It’s come to my attention that an offhand remark I made in jest last weekend is being taken out of context, so let me be very clear.
“I fully support my union, the WGA, and the strike. I remain an outspoken critic of the exploitative system that us artists are subject to work in since I started my journey in this business 25 years ago. This strike is necessary to protect ourselves, our writers, and all those working in production who make the industry move.”
This controversy follows the recent comments from fellow DC actor Stephen Amell, who stars in Arrow. Although Amell went much further in actively saying that he did not support the strikes.
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