Screen Actors Guild may discipline, expel Donald Trump

PTI, Jan 20, 2021, 8:55 AM IST

New York: After leaving the White House, President Donald Trump may lose his SAG card, too.

The Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) said on Tuesday that its board voted “overwhelmingly” that there is probable cause that Trump violated its guidelines for membership.

The charges, the guild said, are for Trump’s role in the Capitol riot on January 6, “and in sustaining a reckless campaign of misinformation aimed at discrediting and ultimately threatening the safety of journalists, many of whom are SAG-AFTRA members.”

If found guilty by a disciplinary committee, Trump faces expulsion.

Trump has been a SAG member since 1989. His credits include “The Apprentice,” “Saturday Night Live” and many cameos in films and television series including “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York,” “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” and “Sex in and City.”

The SAG board acted in response to a request from Gabrielle Carteris, the guild’s president.

“Donald Trump attacked the values that this union holds most sacred — democracy, truth, respect for our fellow Americans of all races and faiths, and the sanctity of the free press,” said Carteris in a statement. “There’s a straight line from his wanton disregard for the truth to the attacks on journalists perpetrated by his followers.”

A White House spokesman didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Losing SAG membership doesn’t disqualify anyone from performing. But most major productions abide by union contracts and hire only union actors.

Online petitions have recently circulated to have Trump removed from some films. One is trying to rally support to have President-elect Joe Biden digitally substituted for Trump in “Home Alone 2.”