Dwayne Johnson has thrown his support behind the ongoing actor’s union strike, reportedly donating a ‘seven figure’ sum to a fund assisting those affected.
Earlier this month Hollywood officially went on strike after US union The Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists voted unanimously to walk out, following weeks of unsuccessful negotiations.
Months after the Writers Guild of America (WGA) began their strike, Sag members followed suit, with notable support coming from the cast of Oppenheimer, who left their UK premiere early in solidarity last week.
Now it’s been revealed that Dwayne, 51, who is also the world’s highest paid actor, has made a historic donation to a charity helping those who are striking.
Soon after the strikes were announced, the union’s president Courtney B Vance and executive director Cyd Wilson sent out a letter to the union’s highest-earning actors, highlighting the financial difficulty many people would face due to work stoppage during the strike, and appealing for assistance.
Wilson revealed to Variety that shortly after she and Vance sent out the letter, the actor responded saying he wanted to help.
‘It was a love fest. It’s like, “Man, you’re stepping up in a way that is allowing others to know the dire necessity of it”,’ Vance said.
‘This is him saying, “In such a time as this, I’m here and I’m not going anywhere, whatever you need me to do.” And that sends a huge message to other folks to do the same thing.’
While the exact figure of Dwayne’s donation hasn’t been disclosed, a representative told HuffPost that the sum was a ‘seven-figure’ amount.
Wilson also told Variety that Johnson’s donation will likely help 7,000 to 10,000 members through the union’s Emergency Financial Assistance Program.
‘It is a call to arms for all of us to know that we just have to step up however you can,’ he said.
‘Dwayne is letting everyone know, “I’m here. What are you going to do?”.’
After writers first went on strike on May, now around 150,000 television and movie actors have also joined the picket line.
This is the first time since 1960 that both actors and writers have picketed film and television production companies.
Metro.co.uk has contacted representatives for Dwayne Johnson for comment.
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