Stephen Amell Says He Put His Foot in His Mouth With Strike Comments After Joining Picket Line

Last week, Arrow star Stephen Amell joined his fellow Arrow colleagues on the SAG-AFTRA picket line on the heels of controversial comments the actor had made about the strike late last month. Now, Amell is explaining why he decided to join the picket line after having disparaged the strike, saying he “put his foot in his mouth”.

“When I spoke the first time, I didn’t choose my words as I should,” Amell said (via ET Canada). “I love acting, I love film and I love television and I know how much going on strike hurts, not just the actors, but all the people who work on film and television. I always said that I support my union. Saying I don’t support the strike was the wrong choice of words, plain and simple. I put my foot in my mouth and I’m trying to take ownership of it.”

What Did Amell Say That Was So Controversial?

At an appearance at Raleigh’s GalaxyCon in late July, Amell said striking is a “reductive tactic” in the union’s negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).

“I feel like I’m insulated in Hollywood, because that’s where I live. I feel like a lot of people in this room aren’t aware of the strike,” Amell said. “I support my union, I do, and I stand with them but I do not support striking. I don’t. I think that it is a reductive negotiating tactic and I find the entire thing incredibly frustrating. I think that the thinking as it pertains to shows, like this show that I’m on that premiered last night, I think it is myopic and I stand with my union.”

He later appeared on TMZ to attempt to clarify, saying that he wished his comments at the convention hadn’t gone public.

“We live in a time right now and I don’t want to wax too poetic here. Where, you know, people want you to vote as long as you’re voting for their candidate. And I can support my union, but there was an authorization vote for a reason,” Amell said. “And listen, it was overwhelmingly in favor of striking. It was 98% and I think that there was a lot of people who frankly it was a vote, but I think that it was just kind of the complete that we were willing to authorize that. I just think that this has been done in a very black and white, all or nothing sort of way and I’m talking about shows and movies that were about to come out before the strike. I’m specifically talking about shows that, you know, I and a bunch of other people pour their heart and soul into that happened to be coming out within a certain window after the strike. I don’t think that some of the consideration that was given to other projects leading up to the strike, and the delay of the strike was given to some other projects that came on the other side, and that’s something that retrospectively, I should have done a better job of taking up in private with the leadership of my union people that I greatly respect and admire.”

“I’m going to take a little bit of a quiet time and try to unplug all little bit. But I’ll tell you what… I will do anything in my power and if that’s being the first one across the line, no pun intended, if that is going to help this process, then I am more than happy to take those slings and arrows. I don’t consider myself to be a martyr, and frankly, I would have preferred that these comments never been made public, but they did. And here we are and hopefully it can just lead to a broader discussion and we can get people back to work.” The Arrow and Heels star added.

Why is the Actors’ Union on Strike?

According to SAG-AFTRA officials, negotiators with the AMPTP were hoping to pay actors just a day’s salary to use their likeness in perpetuity, being able to digitally recreate their face at a later date without payment or consent.

“This ‘groundbreaking’ AI proposal that they gave us yesterday: they propose that our background performers should be able to be scanned, get paid for one day’s pay, and their company should own that scan their image, their likeness and should be able to use it for the rest of eternity in any project they want with no consent and no compensation,” SAG-AFTRA’s Duncan Crabtree-Ireland revealed earlier this month. “So, if you think that’s a groundbreaking proposal, I suggest you think again.”