Billy Porter has said that he will have to sell his house due to the ongoing strikes in Hollywood.
The actor, singer and stage star – known for TV series Pose, 2021’s Cinderella musical movie starring Camila Cabello and his Tony-winning Broadway career – said that that ongoing actors’ and writers’ strikes in Hollywood has created financial uncertainty.
Porter said that he plans to “join the picket lines” upon his return to the US, adding in an interview with the Evening Standard that he was “enraged” by shortcomings relating to streaming and demands for a living wage. “I have to sell my house,” he said.
“And I don’t know when we’re gonna go back [to work],” Porter added of the actors’ strike. “The life of an artist, until you make fuck-you money – which I haven’t made yet – is still cheque-to-cheque. I was supposed to be in a new movie, and on a new television show starting in September. None of that is happening.
“So to the person who said ‘we’re going to starve them out until they have to sell their apartments,’” he added, paraphrasing a quote by an unnamed studio executive (via Deadline), “you’ve already starved me out”.
The actor was being interviewed about his music career, with his new album ‘The Black Mona Lisa’ scheduled for release later this year.
Dozens of famous faces have joined the picket lines in support of the Hollywood strikes, including Bryan Cranston, Kevin Bacon, Susan Sarandon, Awkwafina, Paul Dano and Olivia Wilde.
Will Smith also recently described the Hollywood strikes as a “pivotal moment” in the industry, while Dwayne Johnson made a “historic” donation to the actor’s strike.
Last month, Mark Ruffalo urged fellow actors and writers to work together to make independent projects to cut out Hollywood’s “fat cats”.
In the music industry, meanwhile, Snoop Dogg cancelled his Hollywood Bowl shows in Los Angeles in solidarity with the strikes.