‘Shazam! Fury Of The Gods’ Star Zachary Levi Clarifies That He Supports SAG-AFTRA Strike After Slamming Rules Against Self-Promotion As “Dumb”
After slamming SAG-AFTRA’s current strike rule against self-promotion as “dumb”, Shazam! Fury of the Gods star Zachary Levi has clarified that not only was his comment made as a joke, but that he also wholeheartedly supports the guild’s ongoing negotiating efforts.
The latest actor to portray Earth’s Mightiest Mortal initially entered into the discourse surrounding the current state of Hollywood while making an August 3rd appearance at the 2023 Manchester Comic-Con in Manchester, United Kingdom.
Stephen Amell crying about the #SAGAFTRA strike guidelines now we have Zachary Levi… pic.twitter.com/PnDyRuHfGL
— ⚡️PJ⚡️ (@PJocky82) August 3, 2023
“I’m not allowed to talk about – this is so dumb,” said Levi as he took the stage, as seen in a video shared to TikTok by user @moviemaniacs. “ I’m not allowed to talk about any of my previous work!”
Making reference to his previous roles as Shazam/Captain Marvel in the DCEU, the eponymous hero in NBC’s Chuck, and Flynn Rider in Disney’s Tangled, the actor laughed at how “I’m not allowed to talk about movies that I may be a superhero in. I’m not allowed to talk about TV shows that I may have been a nerd who worked at a Best Buy. I’m not allowed to talk about any animated princess movies that I was fantastic in — as the best prince ever! I’m not allowed to talk about those things.”
RELATED REPORT: SAG-AFTRA Strike Costing Studios “About $600,000 Per Week”
Unfortunately for Levi, albeit unsurprisingly given the heated emotions from all sides regarding the strikes, soon after making his comments, the actor was inundated with not just backlash, but also accusations of betraying his fellow SAG-AFTRA members.
As such, on August 4th, Levi issued a statement to the media clarifying that his comments were joke and that he fully supported his union’s current fight.
“It’s come to my attention that an offhand remark I made in jest last weekend is being taken out of context,” he said, per The Hollywood Reporter. “So let me be very clear. I fully support my union, the WGA, and the strike. I remain an outspoken critic of the exploitative system that us artists are subject to work in since I started my journey in this business 25 years ago. This strike is necessary to protect ourselves, our writers, and all those working in production who make the industry move”
Notably, as pointed out by THR, Levi perviously voiced explicit support for the SAG-AFTRA strike.
“They [the studio executives] do not care about human life, they don’t care about, really, life in general. They care about profits,” said the actor in a lengthy, impassioned Instagram video shared in July as the strike began to loom. “We need to be striking, we should have done this years ago.”
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