Posted in: Disney+, Hulu, streaming, TV | Tagged: disney, hulu, marvel, mcu, runaways, SAG-AFTRA

Runaways: Ariela Barer on Disney Removing Series, Bob Iger's Comments

Marvel's Runaways star Ariela Barer discusses how it hit learning Disney had removed the series and responds to CEO Bob Iger's comments.

It's not like the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) didn't already motivate the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) enough to go on strike. And yet, Disney CEO Bob Iger decided to throw more gasoline on the fire during a wide-ranging sit-down interview with David Faber during the Thursday morning edition of CNBC's Squawk Box from Idaho's Sun Valley Conference. Labeling SAG-AFTRA & the Writers Guild of America's (WGA) negotiating points as "just not realistic" (more on that below), Iger was on the receiving end of some serious pushback over the past 24 hours with SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher not mincing words when it came to her thoughts on what Iger had to say – and what Disney should do with him. Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Marvel's Runaways star Ariela Barer (Gertrude "Gert" Yorkes) also shares their thoughts on Iger's comments and learning that the series was removed completely by Disney+ as part of a cost-cutting/money-saving content purging.

Earlier this year, Iger and CFO Christine McCarthy announced that the company would begin removing content from Hulu & Disney+ in an attempt "to take an impairment charge of approximately $1.5 to $1.8 billion." Not long after, dozens of series & specials were pulled from the streaming services – including Disney+'s Willow, Big Shot, Turner & Hooch, The Mysterious Benedict Society, Just Beyond, and The World According To Jeff Goldblum. On the Hulu side, Y: The Last Man, Dollface, The Hot Zone, Maggie, Pistol, and Little Demon were also pulled – as was Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage's Marvel's Runaways. By doing that, Barer (like many actors) was faced with the financial realities of losing any residuals they were entitled to and the professional blow of seeing their work treated as if it never existed. So when it came to Iger's comments, Barer saw them as throwing salt on a still painful wound. "It doesn't feel great to read those comments; it doesn't feel great to read that your labor is not appreciated," explained Barer, who shared that the series was removed "without any warning." They added, "I think that what we were asking for is incredibly realistic and incredibly important. We're asking for basic respect for our work," explained Barer, who shared that the series was removed "without any warning."

"It's very disturbing to me. We've talked about disruptive forces on this business and all the challenges we're facing; the recovery from COVID, which is ongoing, it's not completely back. This is the worst time in the world to add to that disruption," Iger offered to Faber. "I understand any labor organization's desire to work on behalf of its members to get the most compensation and be compensated fairly based on the value that they deliver. We managed, as an industry, to negotiate a very good deal with the directors guild that reflects the value that the directors contribute to this great business. We wanted to do the same thing with the writers, and we'd like to do the same thing with the actors. There's a level of expectation that they have that is just not realistic. And they are adding to the set of the challenges that this business is already facing that is, quite frankly, very disruptive."

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