The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) is an American labor union that represents 160,000 individuals across the country. SAG-AFTRA members include broadcast journalists, dancers, DJs, recording artists and actors, including familiar movie stars.
Recently, social media posts have gone viral claiming three major Hollywood stars have left SAG-AFTRA to create a new union that is purportedly more in line with their “no-woke” values.
A portion of one post claims: “Denzel Washington, Mark Wahlberg, and Sylvester Stallone have all resigned from The Screen Actors Guild to create a new ‘no-woke’ union focused on traditional values. The new non-woke studio will feature acting legends like Scott Baio, Gina Carano, and the guy who played Hercules.”
Other posts include a meme that says the actor's new guild is “dedicated to traditional values.”
The claim has been shared numerous times, with some people asking if it’s true.
THE QUESTION
Did Mark Wahlberg, Sylvester Stallone and Denzel Washington leave SAG-AFTRA to start a “no-woke” union?
THE SOURCES
- Original article published by satirical site “THE DUNNING-KRUGER TIMES”
- Original Facebook post from satirical page “America - Love it Or Leave It”
- Statement from Denzel Washington’s spokesperson to Reuters and LeadStories.com
- Search through news articles and social media accounts of the actors listed in the post
THE ANSWER
No, Mark Wahlberg, Sylvester Stallone and Denzel Washington didn’t leave SAG-AFTRA to start a “no-woke” union.
WHAT WE FOUND
Mark Wahlberg, Sylvester Stallone and Denzel Washington have not left the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) for the purpose of creating a “no-woke” or “traditional values” union.
A spokesperson for Washington told Reuters and LeadStories.com that the claims were not true.
The claim stems from an article published to a satirical website called “THE DUNNING-KRUGER TIMES.” That fake article says Stallone, Washington and Clint Eastwood were forming a union dedicated to traditional values.
The Dunning-Kruger Times calls itself satire.
“Dunning-Kruger-Times.com is a subsidiary of the ‘America’s Last Line of Defense’ network of parody, satire, and tomfoolery … Everything on this website is fiction. It is not a lie and it is not fake news because it is not real,” the website description says.
VERIFY found a post from a satirical Facebook page called “America - Love it Or Leave It” amplifying the false claim that Washington, Stallone and Wahlberg left to create a new “no-woke” union.
That Facebook page describes itself as “a subsidiary of the America's Last Line of Defense network of trollery. Nothing on this page is real.”
VERIFY searched the three actors’ social media pages and found no references to leaving SAG-AFTRA to form a new union. We also searched news outlets that cover Hollywood and entertainment news like Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, the Los Angeles Times and TMZ, and found no reporting to back up the claims.
VERIFY reached out to representatives for SAG-AFTRA, Washington, Stallone and Wahlberg for comment but did not hear back at the time of publishing.
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