Billy Porter says the financial hardships he's suffered as an actor are "unacceptable".
Billy Porter says actors shouldn't be earning such low wages
The 54-year-old '80 for Brady' star was forced to sell his house during the 2023 actors strike when members of the SAG-AFTRA union walked out as part of a dispute with studios and streaming giants partly over pay issues - and Billy is adamant it's not fair for big name stars like the cast of 'Friends' to be making millions while actors lower down the ladder struggle to make ends meet.
He told the Guardian newspaper: "Those 'Friends' people are making $100 million a year! I’m getting six-cent cheques! It’s not OK!"
Billy went on to insist his pay from 2021 movie 'Cinderella' was only enough to cover his mortgage for four months.
He added: "People have this perception that we’re millionaires. You know how much I made on 'Cinderella'? Only enough to cover my mortgage for four months, maybe.
"It’s unacceptable that I’m one award away from an Egot [an Emmy, Grammy, a Tony and an Oscar] and one strike puts me out of my house."
He went on to say of the issues in Hollywood: "Our deals are going away, our jobs are going away, everyone’s downsizing, but the people in the C-suite [senior business executives] are still making [money].
"Whose fault is it that the business can’t sustain itself and is going to implode? Streaming destroyed the artist’s ability to make money, our ability to participate in capitalism. Being an artist, we’re always freelance, and very often blue collar."
Billy previously opened up about his financial troubles during the strike in an interview with the Evening Standard newspaper, admitting he was putting his house on the market because he wasn't bringing in any money.
He explained: "I have to sell my house. The life of an artist, until you make [big] money - which I haven’t made yet - is still cheque-to-cheque.
"I was supposed to be in a new movie, and on a new television show starting in September. None of that is happening. So to the [unnamed Hollywood executive] person who said ‘We’re going to starve them out until they have to sell their apartments' - you’ve already starved me out".