Billy Porter has to sell house amid acting strikes: ‘You’ve already starved me out’
He also sent a clear message to Disney boss Bob Iger - “F**k you"
Billy Porter has revealed he is going to have to sell his house due to uncertainty over upcoming work projects.
Porter became a household name for portraying Pray Tell in Pose. He became the first openly gay man to win best actor in a drama award at the Emmys in 2019.
He has been spending time in UK promoting new music ahead of release of album The Black Mona Lisa – which lands in 2024.
However, he shared just how much he has been already affected amid the the SAG-AFTRA writers and actors strikes.
“The life of an artist, until you make f— you money — which I haven’t made yet — is still check-to-check”
Actors have been on strike since 14 July, and Porter recently detailed plans to sell his house due to current financial insecurity.
“I have to sell my house,” Porter told the Evening Standard. “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— 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.”
He went on to add: “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”.
Earlier on in the chat he took a swipe at Disney chief executive Bob Iger over an interview last month when he claimed SAG-AFTRA strikers were not being “realistic” with their demands.
“I don’t have any words for it, but: f*** you”
When Iger was probed on the strikes, 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.”
Porter said: “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*** you.
“That’s not useful, so I’ve kept my mouth shut. I haven’t engaged because I’m so enraged,” he said to the publication.
The multi-talented creative admitted he’s glad to have been “over here [in the UK]” in recent weeks. The Cinderella actor has promised to “join the picket lines” when he returns to the US.