Tyler Perry: SAG-AFTRA Has to Know ‘When We Have Won for Now’ Because ‘This Is Only a Three-Year Deal’

Ryan Lattanzio
·2 min read

SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP are still at the negotiating table as we reach day 117 of the actors’ strike, but Tyler Perry argues that the union needs to recognize when it has won “for now.”

Appearing on “CBS Mornings” Tuesday, the film and TV mogul, who recently signed a multi-year first-look deal with Netflix, made his first public comments on the strike after co-signing a proposal sent to SAG-AFTRA brass in October calling for a revised residuals structure and removing the cap on union dues. Perry reminded that SAG-AFTRA is only negotiating a three-year contract, noting that prolonging the strike may only present a challenge in future and inevitable dealings.

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“Here I am, a studio head and an owner of a streamer, but also understanding how it is for the working actor,” Perry said (via Variety). “I get what we’re fighting for … I paid Cicely Tyson $1 million for one day of work because when actors get to a certain age, they’re pretty much discarded. Taraji P. Henson talks about me paying her $500,000 years ago to set her quote. I recently paid two Black women who have been in the business for 25 years $1 million, even when their agents were asking for less than half of that, because I understand the working actor.”

But, Perry continued, “I also understand as we’re looking at all of this. … Fran Drescher and Duncan Crabtree-Ireland and the whole negotiating committee has done a fantastic job moving this forward. They have gotten this way further than anyone thought we could get it. … But it’s really important to know when we’ve won. This is only a three-year deal. In two years [or] two and a half years, we’ll be re-negotiating again. So we have to know when we have won for now. That’s the thing. For now! If I had run my business trying to get everything at once, I wouldn’t be here. I’ve got as much as I can for now, and let’s see what we can do next.”

SAG-AFTRA received a “last, best, and final” from the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers over the weekend but the groups have yet to agree on a contract. SAG-AFTRA leaders and the negotiating are set to meet once again on Tuesday afternoon, with issues surrounding A.I. pending.

Watch Perry’s full “CBS Mornings” appearance here.

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