Actors Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly mocked strike guidelines over the weekend by posting photos on Instagram of themselves dressed as “Kill Bill” characters for Halloween.
While both the “Jennifer’s Body” star and the “Bird Box” cast member — who acts under his real name, Colson Baker — shared pictures of themselves in costume, Fox took her disobedience a step further by tagging the performers union, SAG-AFTRA, in the caption of her post.
Fox and Kelly — dressed as Chiaki Kuriyama’s Gogo Yubari and Uma Thurman’s the Bride, respectively, from the Quentin Tarantino movie now owned by Lionsgate — attended a Hollywood Halloween party hosted by George Clooney and Rande Gerber’s tequila company, Casamigos. (Lionsgate isn’t a member of Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.)
Fox’s Instagram post appeared to snub SAG-AFTRA’s Halloween costume guidelines, which advised members to avoid posting “photos of costumes inspired by struck content on social media” during the spooky season.
The guild’s “strike-friendly tips and tricks” for celebrating Halloween in solidarity were later taken down after drawing laughs and criticism on social media and elsewhere. (“Saturday Night Live” debuted a sketch this weekend poking fun at the Halloween guidelines and SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher.)
The performers union has responded to the backlash by clarifying that the guidelines do “not apply to anyone’s kids.”
“We are on strike for important reasons, and have been for nearly 100 days,” the union said earlier this month. “Our number one priority remains getting the studios back to the negotiating table so we can get a fair deal for our members, and finally put our industry back to work.”
If Fox intended to stir the cauldron with her post, she succeeded. Multiple members of SAG-AFTRA criticized the “Transformers” actor on social media for taunting the union.
“What a rebel,” “Abbott Elementary” star Lisa Ann Walter wrote Sunday on X. “Keep posturing for stupid s—, pretty lady. Meanwhile we’ll be working 10 hours a day – unpaid – to get basic contract earners a fair deal. (PS … No one cares about kids’ costumes. Just high pros at fancy parties. Like Megan)”
“you look amazing but i wish you didn’t post this,” “Castaways” actor Paige McGarvin commented on Fox’s Instagram post. “i totally understand if you disagree with sag and want to voice that privately / to your inner circle, but using your massive platform to undermine the union and sow seeds of division in an incredibly public way does nothing but hurt our leverage with the amptp.”
Reps for Fox and SAG-AFTRA did not immediately respond Monday to requests for comment.
On Sunday, SAG-AFTRA released a statement announcing that the guild and the alliance representing the major studios would be “working independently Monday and reengage on scheduling at the end of the day” after negotiating all weekend and much of last week.
“Join us and flood picket lines in the morning,” the statement read. “Make your voices heard.”
Talks between SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP resumed last Tuesday after the previous round of negotiations soured over streaming pay. Following additional meetings on Thursday and Friday, the guild and the alliance agreed to continue bargaining into the weekend.
SAG-AFTRA is lobbying for minimum-wage increases to mitigate the effects of inflation, higher streaming residuals, more protections regarding the use of artificial intelligence and limitations on self-taped auditions.
Studio executives have argued that the union is asking for too much — particularly when it comes to streaming residuals — considering few streamers are profitable.
Times staff writer Meg James contributed to this report.
