In a rant that aspiring actors may want to consider as monologue material for auditions requiring impotent fury, blistering narcissism, and tearful self-pity, former White House occupant Donald Trump resigned from the Screen Actors Guild after learning that the union was considering kicking the disgraced insurrection provocateur out of its ranks.
“I write to you today regarding the so-called Disciplinary Committee hearing aimed at revoking my union membership. Who cares!” Trump wrote, demonstrating the dignity and sophistication one has come to expect from the 74-year-old former leader of the free world.
The letter was addressed to SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris, who is best known for playing Andrea on Beverly Hills, 90210. The guild had initiated a panel to explore whether Trump should be ousted from the group for violating its rules and endangering other members. “The charges specifically cite Trump’s role in inciting the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, and in sustaining a reckless campaign of misinformation aimed at discrediting and ultimately threatening the safety of journalists, many of whom are SAG-AFTRA members,” the guild said in a statement last month. “The charges request the imposition of the most severe penalty available to SAG-AFTRA: expulsion from membership.”
Trump, who has exploited his various cameos and reality TV appearances to bolster his dubious image as a rich person, responded to their action with this resignation, which included hefty doses of “Do You Know Who I Am?” energy as he listed his (let’s say … somewhat paltry) credits.
“While I’m not familiar with your work,” Trump said to the joint union, which has been a key part of entertainment production since the 1930s. “I’m very proud of my work on movies such as Home Alone 2, Zoolander and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps; and television shows including The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Saturday Night Live, and of course, one of the most successful shows in television history, The Apprentice — to name just a few!”
Among those appearances he excluded in his letter were The Little Rascals (1994), Wrestlemania 23, and the band Precious Metal’s video for their 1991 cover of “Mr. Big Stuff”—although his appearance was cut when the group refused to pay him the $250,000 he demanded after the fact rather than the $10,000 upon which they’d originally agreed.
Trump also won a Golden Raspberry award for worst supporting actor in the 1989 supernatural comedy Ghosts Can’t Do It (his feature film debut). He also appeared as himself in some early-200s Playboy Centerfold VHS releases.
“I no longer wish to be associated with your union,” Trump wrote Thursday. “As such, this letter is to inform you of my immediate resignation from SAG-AFTRA. You have done nothing for me.”
In response, Carteris and SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director David White issued their own two-word statement: “Thank you.”
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