Ellen Pompeo takes Netflix to task over balance payments as actors tell horror stories about payments during SAG-AFTRA strike
Ellen Pompeo has slammed Netflix for failing to pay final balances while Hollywood grinds to a halt due to the SAG-AFTRA strike.
Last week, the actors’ union voted to join the Writers Guild of America on the picket line when it went on strike. It’s the first time the Screen Actors Guild has gone on strike in 43 years.
Along with a higher base salary, better working conditions, and assurances that their jobs will not be replaced by AI, stakeholders are striking over changes in how final payments work.
When a show is broadcast on terrestrial television, actors receive additional residual payments each time their shows or performances are repeated.
Residuals have played a large role in the stars of long-running terrestrial sitcoms such as Friends or The big Bang Theory This makes him one of the highest paid TV stars of all time.
However, in the streaming age, actors rarely receive leftover balances, as the stars of a number of Netflix shows say they received starvation wages for their work on their respective shows.
On Tuesday (July 18) Grey’s anatomy Star Pompeo appeared to be offering support to striking actors as she targeted Netflix over balance sheet policies.
The 53-year-old reports on Instagram Stories who left Grey’s anatomy shared a screenshot of a streamer’s TikTok post again in 2023, after 18 years on the medical series.
(Ellen Pompeo/Instagram)
The original post showed a scene from the second season of Grey’s anatomywhere a young Meredith Gray (Pompeo) stood with her arms crossed.
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“I, if there is one [bomb emoji] in the chest cavity,” the Netflix caption reads.
However, Pompeo added, “Me too, if @netflix doesn’t pay the actors any balance, holla let’s talk.” [sic].”
While Grey’s anatomy is not a Netflix original series as it has aired on ABC since 2005. US subscribers can stream the show on Netflix.
The Independent reached out to Netflix for comment.
Pompeo’s comments come at a time when actors and screenwriters have spoken out against their “appalling” experiences of being paid in Hollywood.
Among them are some actors of the Netflix original Orange is the new blackwho spoke up for it on social media and in a post The New Yorker.
Actress Kimiko Glenn, who played Brooke Soso, claimed she made just $27.30 (£20) from streaming leftover funds in 2020.
“I remember a lot of comments back when I was posting that were like, ‘Guys, guys, they were prepaid,'” she said. “First,” she argued, “whether we were paid upfront or not, my tits live on forever.” I deserve to be paid for as many damn streams as there are.”
She went on to reveal that “people were still bartenders, people were still doing side jobs.”
“They were damn famous, like internationally famous — couldn’t go outside — but had to keep their second jobs because they couldn’t afford not to go out.” We couldn’t afford cabs to… folks!” Glenn added added.