Current SAG-AFTRA president and The Nanny star Fran Drescher called upon her industry to boycott certain states in the union while boasting about the end of “single-use plastics” at Sunday night’s SAG Awards.
In her speech to the audience, the 65-year-old comedic actress touched on a range of topics, from green initiatives to combatting ageism to ending industry vaccine mandates to boycotting states.
“I’m proud to say SAG-AFTRA & MPA have forged Green Council, the biggest joint effort of Stars and Studios to save the planet since WWll,” she said. “Mission 1: an honor system to eliminate single-use plastic on camera, behind the scenes, and leverage star power to challenge audiences around the world to do the same!”
After noting that the people attending the SAG Awards had glass water bottles given to their tables, Drescher then went on to thank the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) for allowing stars to hide their age and switch out their genders on their profile pages. She also called for an end to vaccine mandates, which could be expiring in the industry come April of this year, according to Deadline.
The speech took the most left-wing turn when Drescher concluded on a call to boycott states in the union that do not best promote “freedom, diversity, inclusion and democracy.”
SAG-AFTRA and the NFLPA together, forged Actors & Athletes for Democracy. We are the greatest influencers on the planet and must promote freedom for ALL.
Our industry brings billions of production dollars to states across the nation, but if they want our business, let’s wield our financial influence to make governors act in the best interest of freedom, diversity, inclusion and democracy.
As my character Bobbi Flekman said in This Is Spinal Tap, “Money talks & bullshit walks!”
Top priority of @SAGAFTRA President @FranDrescher: “The biggest joint effort of stars and studios to save the planet since World War II. Mission number one, an honor system to eliminate single-use plastic on camera, behind the scenes…” #SAGAwards pic.twitter.com/TbGDGbmFqL
— Brent Baker 🇺 (@BrentHBaker) February 27, 2023
Drescher made no attempt to define the exact states that should be boycotted, but her statement does come after the industry called to boycott states like Georgia and Alabama for passing strict abortion restrictions. As Breitbart News reported in September of last year, months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, some of Hollywood’s top showrunners, TV creators, and directors have thanked the major studios for protecting their access to abortion.
“At the end of July, more than 1500 of the industry’s top showrunners, creators and directors signed a letter asking nine major employers to lead the way and establish safety protocols for employees in abortion-ban jurisdictions after the death of Roe v. Wade,” the letter said.
“As leaders on our productions, we cannot ask people to choose between their fundamental human rights and their jobs,” it continued. “There are dozens of productions on the ground today in anti-abortion jurisdictions. Their employees need answers right now about how to safely seek reproductive health care.”
The letter concluded with a call for the studios to translate their abortion support into urgent action, creating policies “that will keep our cast and crews safe in anti-abortion jurisdictions may be hard, but it is necessary.”
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