SAG-AFTRA election turns sour amid allegations and threats of prosecution – deadline

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The battle for control of SAG-AFTRA has turned ugly, with allegations and threats of legal action between rival factions. Unite for Strength, the union’s ruling party, is calling on Matthew Modine and his opposition MembershipFirst party to publicly denounce the “rhetoric of hate” allegedly embraced by his anonymous supporters who sit on union boards. MembershipFirst, in turn, threatens legal action.

In a tweet on Sunday, Unite for Strength said: “We challenge Matthew Modine and Membership First to publicly renounce and cease hosting MF (MembershipFirst) board members who have denied the murder of George Floyd, have amplified death threats, joined cult NXIVM, threatened to shoot supporters of vaccination requirements, called January 6 insurgency “set up” by “paid operators”, falsely propagated that Black Lives Matter is a hate group funded by George Soros, and voted against a task force to increase diversity in the community stunt. We condemn this rhetoric of hate.

SAG-AFTRA Election: United for Force files complaint against MembershipFirst candidates Matthew Modine and Joely Fisher over interview with Sam Rubin; KTLA launches “full investigation”

“We have no response to this bullshit,” a MembershipFirst source told Deadline. “The lawyers are involved and they take care of it. Let them name it, and they better start putting all their properties in trust. This is just bullshit. They will not debate the issues.

Last month, one of the anonymous defendants tweeted about the Covid-19 vaccination that “More than half of the American population continues to say no to this unapproved experimental gene therapy” and that “#SecondAmendmentIsForThis” . Several other referenced people posted retweets of tweets from other parties, which doesn’t necessarily signify endorsement of their views.

James Wohl, the lawyer for a local board member who was pictured sitting next to suspected members of the Nxivm sect, said the photo was “completely out of context. Guilt by association doesn’t suit me. You sit next to someone and they take a picture of you, and that involves association? It’s horrible.”

Ben Whitehair, a UFS leader and national board member, joined the thread calling on MembershipFirst to drop such supporters. “It’s really devastating to see this kind of behavior in our SAG-AFTRA meeting rooms. Totally unacceptable. To my fellow members, please vote @ unite4strength so we can bring kindness back to the boardroom, focus on the issues that matter, and get us all back to work.

Anthony Rapp, who is presidential candidate Fran Drescher’s running mate on the Unite for Strength ticket, also joined the thread. “Yes, please, any leader of @MembershipFirst – especially @MatthewModine & @MsJoelyFisher – please address these concerns. “

Unite for Strength has provided Deadline with screenshots of articles, tweets and Facebook posts that identify the alleged offenders, although members of both camps have said, tweeted and re-tweeted questionable comments during the pandemic. MembershipFirst supporters recently pointed out that Drescher, a cancer survivor and president of Cancer Schmancer, has linked 5G, the fifth generation technology for broadband cellular networks, to cancer.

“I can’t believe all the commercials for 5G,” she tweeted in May 2020, more than a year before announcing her candidacy. “Gr8 4 cancer, which harms birds, bees and mor viruses like Corona. Dial it. Keep it simple. Be a conscious consumer the @cancerschmancer way. Do what you buy your vote and what you don’t buy your PROTEST. We can do it. God speaks. Let’s listen. “

This prompted Twitter to post a notice on its tweet, saying, “No, 5G does not cause coronavirus. Many people have been spreading unsubstantiated stories about 5G technology linked to the spread of COVID-19. The theory has been refuted by several reputable sources, including government officials and experts in the tech and medical industries. “

When an undecided voter mentioned it on Twitter on Saturday, Frances Fisher, a member of the national board of directors and leader of MembershipFirst, tweeted “Amen.”

Modine has not yet responded to UFS ‘”challenge”, but has launched his own. He and Rapp tweeted about union health coverage, which became one of the main issues in the election, and earlier today, Modine invited Rapp to join him at a town hall to discuss health care. “I invite you to a public town hall where we can discuss your point of view and the members can hear it publicly,” Modine said. “I’m filming but I’m going to enjoy it.”

Drescher and Modine, meanwhile, both say they support the union’s guidelines for mandatory Covid-19 vaccinations on film and television productions. “Although vaccinations are a crucial part of reducing the Covid-19 virus, they are not 100% effective in preventing us from catching Covid or spreading it,” she said last month. “This is why hospital protocols continue to require masks and that all patients be tested for Covid, whether or not the patient was vaccinated prior to admission.

“We should all share the goal of eliminating Covid in this country. Until we do, it is critical to follow additional SAG-AFTRA safety protocols – such as mask wearing, testing, and physical distancing – especially as mask wear continues to occur. be enforced or encouraged in many areas while some experience epidemics and increased cases. “

On Saturday, Modine tweeted, “I support our industry wide COVID & VACCINE protocols. We believe in science. It is in everyone’s best interests to have the safest sets possible and MF supports COVID security, including Employers’ Discretion 2 requires everyone who can be fully vaxxed. To which Drescher replied: “I said that about a month ago. What took you so long? “

Earlier today, he tweeted: “Let’s solve the fundamental problems within our union and erase the division.

On Sunday, he and other leaders on his list held a 3.5-hour Zoom Town Hall (watch it here) to discuss issues with the ongoing election. This meeting, he tweeted, was open to Drescher and Rapp, but “Unfortunately they didn’t choose to attend. Other # UFS members did and gave #MembershipFirst high marks for our openness and transparency. ”

The ballots for the current elections will be counted on September 2.

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