Former US President, Donald Trump has been banned from ever rejoining the Screen Actors Guild—American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.
This came after SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris and the national board approved a disciplinary hearing against Trump which was held on Saturday February 6. This resulted in Trump being barred from rejoining the union because of the way he treated members of SAG-AFTRA during his presidency and “his antagonism of the union’s journalist members and disregard for the values and integrity of the union”.
On Sunday February 7, SAG-AFTRA passed a resolution to preemptively deny any potential readmission applications from Trump.
SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris said in a statement;
“Preventing Donald Trump from ever rejoining SAG-AFTRA is more than a symbolic step.
“It is a resounding statement that threatening or inciting harm against fellow members will not be tolerated. An attack against one is an attack against all.”
In January, Carteris and National Executive Director David White filed disciplinary charges against Trump, alleging that he incited the attack on the U.S. Capitol, and sustained a “reckless campaign of misinformation aimed at discrediting and ultimately threatening the safety of journalists, many of whom are SAG-AFTRA members,” according to the official release.
The requested penalty was expulsion from the union, which represents over 160,000 actors, writers, singers, broadcast journalists, and other media professionals. But the day before the scheduled Feb. 5 hearing to review evidence on the charges, Trump resigned.
With the new ban, Trump won’t be able to do any legit TV or movie appearances in the future, at least none that are SAG sanctioned. He will also not enjoy SAG benefits like voting on employment and government structure of the union or other unique privileges such as movie screeners during award season and more.
