Hollywood Studios Say They Offered Actors $1 Bln in Gains Before Strike 

Striking SAG-AFTRA members picket with striking WGA (Writers Guild of America) workers outside Warner Bros. Studio on July 17, 2023 in Burbank, California. (Getty Images/AFP)
Striking SAG-AFTRA members picket with striking WGA (Writers Guild of America) workers outside Warner Bros. Studio on July 17, 2023 in Burbank, California. (Getty Images/AFP)
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Hollywood Studios Say They Offered Actors $1 Bln in Gains Before Strike 

Striking SAG-AFTRA members picket with striking WGA (Writers Guild of America) workers outside Warner Bros. Studio on July 17, 2023 in Burbank, California. (Getty Images/AFP)
Striking SAG-AFTRA members picket with striking WGA (Writers Guild of America) workers outside Warner Bros. Studio on July 17, 2023 in Burbank, California. (Getty Images/AFP)

Major film and television studios offered Hollywood actors more than $1 billion in higher compensation and enhanced benefits before the SAG-AFTRA union called a strike last week, a group that represents media companies said on Monday.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which negotiates on behalf of Netflix Inc, Walt Disney Co, Warner Bros Discovery and others, said SAG-AFTRA "continues to mischaracterize the negotiations."

SAG-AFTRA called a strike last Thursday after union negotiators said they were unable to reach an agreement with studios on a new three-year contract with higher benefits and limits on the use of their images by artificial intelligence.

"The deal that SAG-AFTRA walked away from on July 12 is worth more than $1 billion in wage increases, pension and health contributions and residual increases and includes first-of-their-kind protections over its three-year term, including expressly with respect to AI," the AMPTP said in a statement.

"For SAG-AFTRA to assert that we have not been responsive to the needs of its membership is disingenuous at best," the AMPTP added.

Earlier on Monday, SAG-AFTRA, which represents more than 160,000 actors, stunt performers and others, issued a detailed list of its proposals, and what it said were the studios' responses, under the title "We're fighting for the survival of our profession."

Among them, SAG-AFTRA said it asked for an 11% general wage increase in the first year of the contract to make up for inflation. The union said the studios countered with an offer of 5%.

"We moved on some things, but from day one they wouldn’t meaningfully engage on the most critical issues," SAG-AFTRA said.

The actors have joined members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA), which went on strike May 2 after failing to reach a deal with the AMPTP.



Zendaya Sparks Engagement Speculation at Golden Globes with a Sparkling Ring

Zendaya attends the 82nd Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California, US, January 5, 2025. (Reuters)
Zendaya attends the 82nd Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California, US, January 5, 2025. (Reuters)
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Zendaya Sparks Engagement Speculation at Golden Globes with a Sparkling Ring

Zendaya attends the 82nd Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California, US, January 5, 2025. (Reuters)
Zendaya attends the 82nd Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California, US, January 5, 2025. (Reuters)

Zendaya is generating engagement speculation after wearing a massive diamond on her left ring finger during the Golden Globes.

Representatives for Zendaya and her longtime partner, Tom Holland, did not return requests for comment from The Associated Press on Monday, a day after the 28-year-old Emmy Award-winner attended the telecast at the Beverly Hilton.

Zendaya, the breakout star from “Euphoria” and “Challengers” who showed up on the red carpet in a Louis Vuitton gown, has long been linked to Holland since they played love interests in 2017's “Spider-Man: Homecoming.” Holland wasn't at Sunday's Globes.

A reporter for the Los Angeles Times seemed to confirm something was up when she held up her engagement ring and pointed to it, and Zendaya responded by showing her own left-hand bling. The reporter then asked if the actor was engaged and “she kept showing her ring, smiled coyly and shrugged her shoulders mysteriously.”

Another clue was that Bulgari — for which the “Dune” star is an ambassador — provided Zendaya’s carpet jewelry — a necklace, right-hand ring and earrings — but a press release didn't mention the ring on her left ring finger.