SAG-AFTRA is sticking with diversity, equity and inclusion, even as major forces in Hollywood distance themselves from such measures.
The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists’ national board adopted a resolution on Saturday that made clear the union is doubling down on its DEI efforts.
“[D]iversity, equity, and inclusion are not only moral imperatives but also crucial to the creative and economic vitality of our industry, ensuring that stories told on screen resonate with and reflect the lived experiences of all audiences,” the resolution stated. “[S]ystemic barriers to full and fair inclusion, equal employment opportunity, and accessibility persist, requiring continued vigilance and advocacy to ensure that progress is maintained and accelerated.”
The SAG-AFTRA board acknowledged that “substantial work” still needs to be done in order for people from all paths of life to feel “equitably represented both in front of and behind the camera.”
In 2020, amid repeated calls for racial justice, studios and entertainment companies committed to donating millions of dollars to civil rights and anti-racist organizations, established in-house talent development programs to nurture underrepresented creatives, and instituted new requirements for diverse hiring and inclusive business practices.
Saturday’s resolution stated that the union reaffirmed its “unwavering commitment to equal employment opportunity, diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility as fundamental to the mission of our union and the future of our industry.” It added that it longed to continue holding the entertainment industry accountable to abiding by contractual obligations that ensure DEI initiatives are met.
According to its website, SAG-AFTRA “represents approximately 160,000 actors, announcers, broadcast journalists, dancers, DJs, news writers, news editors, program hosts, puppeteers, recording artists, singers, stunt performers, voiceover artists and other entertainment and media professionals.”
SAG-AFTRA’s mission to “reflect the richness and depth of the American Scene in all its infinite diversity in infinite combinations,” comes at a time when other major players in the Hollywood studio system have gone in the other direction.
The reversals and restructuring of Hollywood’s DEI programs came after President Trump issued an executive order in January that tasked the U.S. attorney general with going after private-sector DEI programs that, according to the president, constitute illegal discrimination based on race and sex. Soon after the mandate, the Federal Communications Commission launched an inquiry into NBCUniversal owner Comcast Corp. to “root out” DEI-based initiatives.
In February, Walt Disney Co. announced it would be shifting its internal DEI policies by replacing a “diversity and inclusion” performance factor for executive compensation planning with a “talent strategies” standard. This move signaled a shift from when the company combated Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis after it raised objections to Florida’s anti-LGBTQ+ state legislation. Recently, Disney removed a trans athlete storyline from its Pixar animated series “Win or Lose,” saying at the time that “many parents would prefer to discuss certain subjects with their children on their own terms and timeline.”
Warner Bros. Discovery stepped into the DEI waters by announcing it would rebrand its DEI initiatives as just “inclusion.” Paramount Global reacted by dropping staffing goals related to gender, race, ethnicity and sex.
This move away from DEI programs is not one specific to the Hollywood machine. Retail stores such such as Target, Walmart and Lowe’s have pledged that they will either end or cut back on diversity initiatives, many of which were put into place just a few years ago. Major tech companies, including Meta (Facebook’s parent company), Google and Amazon, are also scaling back on DEI.
The Times’ Company Town senior editor Ryan Faughnder and staff writer Samantha Masunaga contributed to this report.