In a recent interview with Evening Standard, Billy Porter opened up about how he has to sell his home because of the writers strike that is still going on in Hollywood.
During the interview, Porter spoke about how he was supposed to be in a movie and a television show in September but because of the strike he’s missing out on income! “I have to sell my house,” Porter said. “Yeah! Because we’re on strike. And I don’t know when we’re gonna go back [to work]. The life of an artist, until you make f*ck-you money — which I haven’t made yet — is still check-to-check. 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,’ you’ve already starved me out.”
“In the late Fifties, early Sixties, when they structured a way for artists to be compensated properly through residual [payments], it allowed for the two percent of working actors — and there are 150,000 people in our union — who work consistently…Then streaming came in,” Porter said. “There’s no contract for it…And they don’t have to be transparent with the numbers — it’s not Nielsen ratings anymore. The streaming companies are notoriously opaque with their viewership figures. The business has evolved. So the contract has to evolve and change, period. To hear Bob Iger say that our demands for a living wage are unrealistic? While he makes $78,000 a day?”
“I don’t have any words for it, but: f*ck you,” Porter added about Iger. “That’s not useful, so I’ve kept my mouth shut. I haven’t engaged because I’m so enraged. I’m glad I’ve been over here [in England]. But when I go back I will join the picket lines.”
Iger spoke about the strike and how it’s affecting people back in July and he said: “It’s very disturbing to me. We’ve talked about disruptive forces on this business and all the challenges we’re facing, the recovery from COVID which is ongoing, it’s not completely back. This is the worst time in the world to add to that disruption…There’s a level of expectation that [strikers] have, that is just not realistic. And they are adding to the set of the challenges that this business is already facing that is, quite frankly, very disruptive.”
#Socialites do you think people will get the money they deserve and this strike will end?
Who knows. This is really iffy world we live in. The economy is so iffy. one minute it’s up and the next it’s down.
I feel sorry for the thousands of workers that try to live within their means. The other workers that think just because you’re famous, you gotta live large and spend a lot to get noticed. That’s not true and I don’t feel one bit sorry for them.
You don’t have 12 bedrooms and umpteen bathrooms, tennis court, fancy cars and all that to be happy. Actually, some stars are really miserable trying to keep up with the Jones. Look at Keenau Reeves. He was born poor and taught the value of a dollar by his parents.
He lives in a regular house, drives a normal car, and dresses like a person from my neck of the woods and makes good money but is frugal. He even tries to stay out of the spotlight as much as possible. Nobody bothers him or keeps hounding him for money or free handouts and he’s actually happy.
We could learn from him. He’s a good role model. I would like to meet him someday before I leave this world and tell him that.
I can name two other guys that lived the same way. One was famous, Sam Walton, the owner of Walmart and the other wasn’t famous. He was Pop Bottle Bill. He lived in Saginaw, Michigan. He rode a bicycle around town collecting cans and bottles at 10 cents refund each.