Arrow Star Stephen Amell Slams Actors Strike: "It is a Reductive Negotiating Tactic"

The actors' and writers' strike is still an ongoing battle in Hollywood as they are continuing to fight for fair contracts, residuals, and assurance that the incoming dominance of artificial intelligence (AI) won't affect their job.

A lot of key figures across the industry have publicly shown their support for the strike and called it a necessary fight for their future and the right to have proper livelihood as the business continues to change.

For the past months, we've been hearing a lot of stories and arguments about the necessity of the strike and how it has affected all major productions across Hollywood as thousands of workers are temporarily out of jobs as a result.

There is also the restriction amongst the striking actors and writers as most of them are not allowed to promote their work and they're not doing any work on the projects that they're attached to at the moment.

Now, as the situation continues to happen with no end in sight soon, a known actor from a popular TV series has now publicly slammed the strike.

Stephen Amell Publicly Calls Out the Actors' Strike

Credit: The CW

In his recent appearance at GalaxyCon (via Deadline), Arrow star Stephen Amell publicly criticized the strike as he called it "a reductive negotiating tactic," "incredibly frustrating," and "myopic" in his view.

"I support my union, I do, and I stand with them, but I do not support striking, I don’t. I think it is a reductive negotiating tactic, and I find the entire thing incredibly frustrating. And I think the thinking as it pertains to shows like the show that I’m on [Heels], that premiered last night, I think it’s myopic," he said.

As expected, his comments received a lot of backlash online including from his former Arrowverse co-stars such as Kirk Acevedo who tweeted, "This fucking guy."

Meanwhile, Eobard Thawne/Reverse-Flash actor Matt Letscher wrote, "Still waiting on that comprehensive list of totally non-reductive negotiating tactics we get to employ now. Thank god for superheroes! Any second now…."

Today, Amell responded to the backlash in a social media post where he offered clarifications and claimed that his words were "taken out of context."

First, he iterated that his support for the union is "unconditional" and went on to give an explanation of what he meant when he said that he did not support the strike.

"I understand fundamentally why we’re here. My off the cuff use of the word 'support' is clearly contradictory to my true feelings and my emphatic statement that I stand with my union. Of course I don’t like striking. Nobody does. But we have to do what we have to do," he explained.

In terms of calling the strike a "reductive negotiating tactic," he defended that he was just speaking "extemporaneously" and acknowledged that the leadership of the guild has done an "incredibly complicated job" and iterated again that he understands the purpose of the strike.

Regarding his description of the strike as "myopic," Amell explained, "Perhaps it was an inarticulate shoutout to our crew and cast, who mean the world to me. I’m simply sad that we don’t have the chance to celebrate a show that all of us figuratively and I literally, broke my back for."

Also Read: She-Hulk Star Tatiana Maslany Calls Out Disney CEO for Recent Strike Comments

The ongoing strike is definitely a complicated situation for everyone involved. There's no doubt that what Amell initially said can be very negative from a PR standpoint and for those who are affected by the situation.

It is unknown yet whether Amell's clarification could win back some of the people who were turned off by his initial comments. Regardless, there's no doubt that this is an important issue for everyone and it is also necessary that all members of the guild need to come together in this crucial fight.