Here Is How The SAG-AFTRA Strike Is Affecting Billy Porter!

Billy Porter is feeling the brunt of the writers' strike

Tensions have continued rising amid the ongoing Writers Guild of America [WGA] and Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists [SAG-AFTRA] strikes. In the midst of it all, Porter has disclosed the inevitability of selling his house, claiming that the current situation has "starved him out."

Porter has publicly disclosed that he had been forced to sell his home in Los Angeles. The confession, which came during a conversation with the United Kingdom's Evening Standard, saw him stating: 

"I have to sell my house. 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**k-you money -- which I haven't made yet -- is still check-to-check."

The actor, who is best known for his role in the drama series, "Pose," explained that the two Hollywood projects —  "a new movie and on a new television show starting in September"— that he was supposed to be working on were no longer happening.

Referring to the controversial statement made by an undisclosed studio executive recently, the "80 for Brady" star added, "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."

Porter did not stop there as he specifically called out Disney CEO Bob Iger and expressed his frustration and anger with the comments that the latter has made about the strikes. In his words:

"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, except: 'f**k you.' [But] that's not useful, so I've kept my mouth shut. I haven't engaged because I'm so enraged."

"The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder" voice actor further contemplated the underlying causes behind the business slowdown in Hollywood and the strikes, expressing:

"In the late '50s, early '60s, when they structured a way for artists to be compensated properly through residual [payments], it allowed for the 2% of working actors and there are 150,000 people in our union, who work consistently. Then streaming came in. There's no contract for it and they don't have to be transparent with the numbers."

Ultimately, what matters most to Porter is the contract "evolving," just as show business has evolved over the years. 

Shortly before performers began their strikes, The Blast reported that Porter had landed a gig to play the role of civil rights activist James Baldwin in an upcoming biopic. Per the report, the "Like a Boss" actor will also show off his writing skills and work alongside Dan McCabe. 

The screenplay is expected to take its cues from author David Leeming's 1994 book, "James Baldwin: A Biography." Sharing his excitement for the job, Porter declared:

"As a Black queer man on this planet with relative consciousness, I find myself, like James Baldwin said, 'in a rage all the time.' I am because James was. I stand on James Baldwin's shoulders, and I intend to expand his legacy for generations to come." 

This might just be the project that earns the "Anything's Possible" performer that seemingly elusive Oscar Award, which is the only thing stopping him from making EGOT status. He had first earned a Tony Award for his performance in the 2013 Broadway production, "Kinky Boots."

Since he appeared on the play's eponymous album, he won a Grammy that same year for it. Then in 2019, he was nominated for and won an Emmy Award for his portrayal of Pray Tell in "Pose." Odd as it sounds, Porter took a leaf from Baldwin's book during his acceptance speech that night, saying:

"James Baldwin said, 'took many year of vomiting up all the filth that I had been taught about myself and halfway believed before I could walk around this earth like I had the right to be here.' I have the right, you have the right, we all have the right."