Fran Drescher Blasts AMPTP Amid Strike & Explains That Photo with Kim K (Exclusive)

The picket lines are up, and the battles lines are drawn — and SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher has joined the front lines, leading the way after her fiery and impassioned headline-making speech Thursday.

“Extra’s” Billy Bush spoke one-on-one with Drescher, who shared her disappointment over not being able to avert a strike.

“In hindsight, I guess I was overly optimistic or naive because I really thought that these people that I have been in business with for decades actually cared about the performer,” Fran said. “Not lip service, but putting their money where their mouth is and really incorporating on us into the fabric of this business model. And we've been marginalized with the change from the way it used to be, which the current contract is predicated on to the way it is now, which is streaming. So, it's a very different business model and they don't want to recognize that the contract needs to be updated and so it's disappointing.”

She continued, “There are a lot of things that they weren't willing to do. Things that weren't about money, things that should have been a no-brainer. Maybe the AMPTP that we're working with doesn't really know what's going on in the front lines. We are telling them. And you'd think they'd say, ‘Oh, my God, this has to stop.’ Don't tell me you're giving me a great AI protection thing, but then my background performer gets paid for one day.”

National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator of SAG-AFTRA Duncan Ireland Crabtree announced the decision of the unions to strike at a presser on Thursday, after the union and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers failed to reach a deal Wednesday night.

SAG-AFTRA, which consists of more than 160,000 television and film talent, voted with a 98% majority in favor of the strike. Drescher told Billy, the decision to picket was necessary to send a message about labor.

“I mean, I have to say that I love Frederick Douglass and I always make this quote because he said, ‘Power concedes nothing without demand.’ It never has. And it never will. Well, we are at that place. This is why there are unions, because big business does not do right by the workers and the entire nation and around the world, workers are watching what is happening right here, right now in this industry, in Hollywood.”

As for whether Drescher has any hope of reaching an agreement with the studios.

“The ball is in their court. I mean, something's gonna have to give, but we know because we are the ones that are impacted by all of these changes that we've drawn a line in the sand that we cannot cross because we can't keep letting big business take advantage of all of our members in this way. So, you know, they're the ones that are going to have to come back and have a meaningful conversation. Not an insulting one.”

The actress also addressed the criticism she received for attending the Dolce & Gabbana fashion show in Italy, where she was pictured with Kim Kardashian, while union contract talks were occurring.

“We feel like it was generated by the opposition, which is so awful because they know how the business works. I was working there; I was working in three time zones. I never met Kim until seconds before that picture was taken because we're both brand ambassadors for a clothing line.”

Her message for union workers and studios today?