Amid the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, Emmy award winner Sheryl Lee Ralph took to the picket lines to support her fellow actors this week.
With a little help from Rihanna, the “Abbott Elementary” star took a break from marching on Sept. 13 to rile up the Los Angeles crowd with an epic speech.
The SAG-AFTRA strike began in July, joining The Writers Guild of America strike that began two months prior.
Writers and actors are demanding fair pay for their work on streaming services, and thousands of actors, including the “Moesha” star, turned up to a rally in front of Netflix studios before marching to Paramount Studios to picket this week.
Ralph had the crowd going wild after she spoke out in support of the strike and asked for fair pay while quoting lyrics from RiRi’s 2015 song, “B—h Better Have My Money.”
“Everybody out here today, you know why we’re here,” said Ralph. “You know what we deserve. And in the words of one of our SAG members, ‘Pay us what you owe us. Don’t act like you forgot. Shot, shot, shot-a! Aye.”
Rihanna has appeared in several movies such as “Ocean’s Eight,” “Battleship,” and “Guava Island.”
“What can I say,” Ralph captioned the post after sharing clips on social media. “the spirit of @rihanna got to me. @sagaftra #SAGAFTRASTRONG.”
“The shot shot shot really took me all the way outtttt,” noted one fan on Instagram.
“Ya mon!! The yahdie a com outtttttt. I love it!” said another.
“That Island Girl came out,” added one X user. “You did Rih Rih proud.”
Another said, “I’m voting you for Mayor of Hollywood. A Queen for the people
“Period auntie wanted to say what we all was thinking bih better have our moneyyyy,” added a fifth individual.
The Jamaican-American actress continued by reiterating that actors are the heart of the entertainment industry.
“You might try to recreate us with AI,” she added. “But ain’t nothing going to be as fabulous as the human beings we are.”
According to NBC 4 Los Angeles, negotiations between the WGA and Hollywood studios have been held recently, but no agreement has been made. The outlet also reports that there have not yet been new talks between SAG-AFTRA and television and movie studios.
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