SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher criticized Kim Kardashian’s photo

SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher has come under fire at a tense moment in union contract talks with major studios after she took a weekend trip to Italy for a Dolce & Gabbana promotional event.

SAG-AFTRA confirmed that Drescher was still involved in the negotiations despite her international travel. A photo of Drescher with Kim Kardashian appeared on social media Monday via Kardashian’s Instagram account. That sparked heated reactions from actors, writers, and other members of Hollywood’s creative community who are on pins and needles this week, as the union and the Motion Picture and Television Producers Alliance face a midnight July 12 deadline to select three new ones. 1 year contract. Unless an agreement is reached, the union is expected to launch its first industry-wide strike since 1980.

Unlike other elected union bosses, Drescher also serves as chair of SAG-AFTRA’s Contract Negotiation Committee. I have worked closely with Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA’s National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator, planning the agenda and demands at a time when the economics of the entertainment industry are undergoing rapid transformation.

SAG-AFTRA defended Drescher’s decision to take the express trip late Monday as part of her work as a longtime “brand ambassador” for the Italian high-fashion line.

President Drescher serves as Dolce and Gabbana’s brand ambassador at a location in Italy. This was a commitment fully known to the negotiating committee. She has been in negotiations every day either in person or via video. Chief Drescher manages a physically demanding schedule across three time zones, overseeing negotiations and working on site daily as well as managing her parents’ outdoor needs. [Florida]. You’re back in the US and will be on the ground in Los Angeles tomorrow [July 11]SAG-AFTRA said in a statement.

Hollywood’s creative community has been on the alert since May 2 when the Writers Guild of America went on strike for the first time since 2007. The image of Drescher and Kardashian has been a hornet’s nest among industry insiders because Kardashian, who has gained fame as a reality TV star, recently entered the world of Scripts with a role in “American Horror Story” at FX. And this particular show has been in the crosshairs of the WGA and its backers SAG-AFTRA because it’s one of the few to remain in production in recent weeks, after battering WGA members in New York and Los Angeles strategically forced studios to close productions with entire scripts to film. The Amazing Writers did this by targeting sound plays and shooting on location with picket lines to discourage Teamster and IATSE crew members from crossing them in order to get to work.

Meanwhile, Kardashian has kept millions on social media posted on her work on “AHS,” providing clear evidence that the show has remained in production after others were forced to drop out.

Drescher’s trip to Apulia, in southern Italy, also drew derision from the management of the Hollywood bargaining table. “How can one be accent deaf,” quipped a senior executive at an AMPTP member studio.