SAG-AFTRA lists Halloween costumes banned for striking actors

Halloween will look different for Hollywood actors, as an ongoing strike now haunts a spooky season.

SAG-AFTRA announced that striking actors must follow strict rules when it comes to wearing holiday costumes this year. Performers who are accustomed to wearing business attire are asked to be aware of how they are seen dressed online.

in A press release with a scary headline, the union shared guidelines on which characters should avoid being seen wearing their clothes in order to remain in solidarity with the industry strike that has been in effect since July and is approaching its 100th day. Strike rules prohibit members from wearing costumes inspired by the studio’s main content (AMPTP).

“Let’s use our collective power to send a loud and clear message to our striking employers that we will not promote their content without a fair contract,” the post read.

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The union is not asking strikers to ditch Halloween altogether, but rather to dress in generic costumes as a witch or zombie.

The guidelines don’t clarify whether you can dress up as characters from movie studio adapted content like Mattel’s Barbie or Nintendo’s Mario, characters that long predate their 2023 film adaptations.

USA TODAY has reached out to SAG-AFTRA for clarification on these costumes.

The union has also issued a list of tips on how members can celebrate without breaching the guidelines.

“This Halloween, we wanted to make sure our members don’t inadvertently break strike rules, and we’ve put together some quick tips on the do’s and don’ts of costumes,” the union wrote.

What costumes can actors wear during a strike?

While the strike has urged actors not to post photos or videos of themselves dressed as popular characters from banned content, the following types of costumes are permitted:

Costumes inspired by popular Halloween characters such as a ghost, pirate or fairy
Fashion inspired by ordinary professions such as a doctor or a football player
Costumes inspired by unstitched content such as an anime show

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What costumes are striking actors not allowed to wear?

Based on guild guidelines, the following costumes may be considered prohibited:

Barbie and Ken (from Warner Bros.’ “Barbie”)
Wednesday Adams (from “Wednesday” on Netflix)
Eleven or Vecna (from Netflix’s Stranger Things)
Superhero characters (from Disney’s Marvel Studios or Warner Bros’ DC Studios)
Harry Potter characters (from the Warner Bros series)
Star Wars characters (from the Disney Lucas film)
Daenerys Targaryen or Jon Snow (from HBO’s Game of Thrones)
Ted Lasso or Roy Kent (from “Ted Lasso” on Apple TV+)
“Carmi” Berzato or Sidney Adamo (from FX’s “The Bear”)

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Why is there an actor’s strike?

Since July, SAG-AFTRA members have been on strike over issues related to pay increases for broadcast programming and control over how artificial intelligence uses their images.

Hollywood studios pulled out of union negotiations this month after seeing the actors’ latest proposal say in a statement that “the gap between AMPTP and SAG-AFTRA is too great, and the talks are no longer moving us in a productive direction.”