Striking Actors' Union Urges Actors To Avoid Certain Halloween Costumes
SAG-AFTRA, the union representing striking actors, is urging its members to avoid wearing certain costumes for Halloween.
“This Halloween, we wanted to make sure our members don’t inadvertently break strike rules, and have put together some quick tips on the dos and don’ts for costumes,” the union stated on its website.
According to the union’s release, members should “choose costumes inspired by generalized characters and figures (ghost, zombie, spider, etc).”
The union members should also avoid posting to social media photos of costumes “inspired by struck content.”
According to a USA Today article, based on the union’s guidelines the following costumes could be considered banned:
Barbie and Ken (from Warner Bros' “Barbie”)
Wednesday Adams (from Netflix’s “Wednesday”)
Eleven or Vecna (from Netflix’s “Stranger Things”)
Superhero characters (from Disney’s Marvel Studios or Warner Bros' DC Studios)
Harry Potter characters (from the Warner Bros franchise)
Star Wars characters (from Disney’s Lucasfilm)
Daenerys Targaryen or Jon Snow (from HBO’s "Game of Thrones")
Ted Lasso or Roy Kent (from Apple TV+’s “Ted Lasso”)
"Carmy" Berzatto or Sydney Adamu (from FX’s "The Bear")
Although the union, in its release, did not expressly prohibit the wearing of costumes of struck content, under the union’s strike order & notice (in PDF), the promotion of struck content on social media could be subject to union discipline “consistent with the SAG-AFTRA Constitution.”
Penalties for such violations “may include censure, reprimand, fine, suspension, and/or expulsion,” states the union’s Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page.