Hollywood Actor Union President: "We Were Duped By Studios, They Kept Wasting Time"

"They stayed behind closed doors, they kept canceling our meetings," said Fran Drescher

Hollywood actors were "duped" into extending negotiations for two weeks by studios who wanted more time to promote their summer blockbuster movies, union president Fran Drescher told AFP on Thursday.

The Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) last month postponed their initial strike deadline, in the hope of thrashing out a deal with the likes of Netflix and Disney over demands for better pay and more protection against artificial intelligence.

That extension failed to yield any progress in talks, which collapsed on Wednesday night, with the union representing some 160,000 performers calling a strike for midnight Thursday (0700 GMT Friday.)