Seth MacFarlane Donates $1M To Workers Affected By WGA, SAG-AFTRA Strikes

Family Guy and American Dad! creator Seth MacFarlane has donated $1 million to The Entertainment Community Fund, an organization that provides support to behind-the-scenes workers and which is under increased stress due to the dual WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.

Thanks to contributions from MacFarlane and other Hollywood A-listers, the organization has raised more than $6.3 million from more than 7,500 donors over the past two months. While organizers are thankful for the contributions, they say more support is always welcome.

Addressing the outpouring of support for industry colleagues, Entertainment Community Fund chairperson Annette Bening said:

The Entertainment Community Fund is overcome with gratitude to the prominent leaders in our community who have donated in support of film and television workers in need. Each day, the calls for help increase; these gifts will immediately assist so many in our industry who are still struggling to recover after the pandemic. We also hope that these impactful gifts will inspire others, if they can, to donate to support our crucial work.

With SAG-AFTRA and WGA members all striking at the same time, the Entertainment Community Fund has seen a major increase in the number of requests for emergency financial assistance. According to the organization, in the first half of the year, it was distributing around $75,000 per week. Since the strikes began, that weekly total has increased to nearly half-a-million dollars.

On July 28, the fund reported that it had distributed more than $2.7 million to more than 1,500 workers affected by the ongoing production halts. Funds are distributed to help cover basic living expenses such as rent, food, insurance, and medical bills, as well as mental health support.

This is not the first time that MacFarlane has shown support for striking industry workers. In May, after the WGA writers began striking but before SAG-AFTRA had joined them, MacFarlane and the showrunners of Family Guy and American Dad! joined striking WGA writers and said they would not return to the shows until the Union agreed to a new contract. MacFarlane has also appeared on the picket line numerous times since the strikes began and was very involved in the last WGA strike back in 2007-2008, advocating on behalf of the WGA and its membership.