Zachary Levi, of anti-vaxx, Evangelical douche fame, appeared at Comic Con Manchester in the UK on July 29. That was a full two weeks into the SAG-AFTRA strike, and while he was there he called the strike regulations “so dumb.” Unlike scab Stephen Amell, Zachary wasn’t promoting a new project. Like Stephen Amell, Zachary is now claiming that his comments were taken out of context. This past Friday he released a statement to put them “in context” for us:
Zachary Levi is clarifying his viral comments about the SAG-AFTRA strike.
The Shazam! star’s jokes from a fan event went viral after he called the guild’s restrictions on promoting studio content “so dumb.”
“It’s come to my attention that an offhand remark I made in jest last weekend is being taken out of context,” Levi said in a statement Friday. “So let me be very clear. I fully support my union, the WGA, and the strike. I remain an outspoken critic of the exploitative system that us artists are subject to work in since I started my journey in this business 25 years ago. This strike is necessary to protect ourselves, our writers, and all those working in production who make the industry move.”
Levi added: “But we also cannot forget our fans during this strike. Fans that spend their money and energy traveling far distances to talk with us about our work that means so much to them, we should be able to engage. Our business exists and succeeds because of the fans, and I think it’s imperative we appreciate them for their support of our careers.”
Appearing at what appeared to be Manchester Comic-Con—which took place in the U.K. late last month—Levi talked about how he couldn’t discuss his work on projects like Chuck, Tangled and the two Shazam! Films.
“I’m not allowed to talk about… this is so dumb. I’m not allowed to talk about any of my previous work,” Levi says in the clip. “I’m not allowed to talk about movies that I may be a superhero in. I’m not allowed to talk about TV shows that I may have been a nerd who worked at a Best Buy. I’m not allowed to talk about any animated princess movies that I was fantastic in—as the best prince ever! I’m not allowed to talk about those things.”
You know what I think is dumb? Showing up to a union-restricted event during a strike where you know you won’t be able to talk about anything! And then his trying to pin his actions on the fans is just lame. The more he digs into saying it’s all for the fans, though, the more it seems he fundamentally doesn’t understand the purpose of a strike. “Our business exists and succeeds because of the fans, and I think it’s imperative we appreciate them for their support of our careers.” Yes, that is true. But that’s why boycotting events, including those driven and beloved by fans, puts pressure on AMPTP. It’s all part of the disruption cycle of a strike. Isn’t this like Strike 101? And while we’re at it, let’s reeducate Zachary on something else: no, he is not the best Disney prince ever.
Photos credit: Backgrid and Avalon.red
What a loser and a scab.
Susan, absolutely!! I actually thought this was Amell but I guess most douche bags look alike!! You guys keep talking and showing ALL of us how stupids, ignorant, incompetent and so full of yourself as you keep yapping like little dogs you are.
And thank you Kismet!! Best Prince EVER?? At his elementary school play possibly but EVER??
BTW Levi, this country was built with the help of everyday Americans for decades, all of whom have been supportive of Labor Unions. I am pretty certain that if you asked one of your “fans” they would be supporting the strike as well. 🤦🏻♀️
This event was in the UK so he likely used that as an excuse to let go of his crooked ideas thinking he wasn’t facing repercussions.
Also, I’d like to see fans in the UK of this dude, like… seriously? He’s been the worst pre-Shazam fame too!!
Yeah, his fan obsession doesn’t seem to include trans folks so he can kick rocks.
The losery of it all. He’s such a simp faux Christian with nothing to offer but platitudes.
Scab.
The fans aren’t dumb. A large majority from what I’ve seen in fandom spaces support the union and the strike and have boosted fundraisers since it happened.
What’s actually dumb is that for actors in particular who’ve been luckily enough to have been able to negotiate better contracts for themselves, shutting up is free.
I think when you get into conventions and the like, where people spent money up front prior to the strike, especially in the poor economics we are facing, fans dumb or not, get hurt
People buy tickets to these things several months in advance and based on the line up. No fans are not dumb and they can empathize with the strike but it’s still very disappointing to pay all that money for an event (travel expenses, costumes, etc) and not get what you paid for, as a regular person.
This isn’t to say I think Zach is right to show up, nor do i really care about anything he says honestly. Strikes are strikes. I just think some fans did get hurt in the process
Yeah, the union was saying to honor any contracts with non-struck companies, but he should have just talked about general things. I’d give him a bit of leeway on answering specific fan questions, but he’d need to at least be letting people know there was stuff he couldn’t talk about.
But he’s the sort of ass who sees rules as something for lesser people.
Maybe I’m misunderstanding all of this but actors who go to cons can talk about any topic under the sun except for struck work, right? So Zach could have talked about being an actor, how he learns the scripts, pay structures and contracts, a day in the life of a working actor, other jobs on the set, what it’s like to live on location, friendships with other actors, sports, weather, recipe swaps, knitting…etc. Right?
But since he can’t talk about current work or work that is owned by the struck studios (I guess) he’s got nothing to say? Nothing comes to mind?
That is incredibly sad.
I’m curious how this works as well. I attended a convention this weekend that hosted a reunion of the cast for The Lost Boys, including Kiefer Sutherland and Jason Patric. A few other working actors were present as well signing autographs and taking pictures with fans.
I wonder if the contracts were signed before the strike? Also, there were no Q&A panels during the event so maybe that’s how they handled it?
Not expecting answers, just wondering out loud.
This is a dude who thinks Jordan Petersen is an intellectual. So that tells you where his own level of intellect lies – in the gutter
He sucks so hard. The irony is that he’s always kind of given me gay vibes. The evangelical community can really do a number on a gay person with all the condemnation and gas-lighting.
Hopefully he’ll go somewhere and fade away into obscurity. I hated the most recent Shazam — Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu were the best parts, bar none.
I am inclined to agree. He was married once to an actress and that imploded spectacularly to the point where they don’t ever speak about the breakup. And he’s basically been single ever since. I get the feeling it’s one of two things: 1. He has the personality of a piece of cardboard and is a misogynist jerk (which I have listened to him on podcasts – and he is most definitely a misogynist) or 2. He’s closeted. I am inclined to believe its all of the above.
That marriage imploded because he was cheating on Missy throughout their relationship. He had her believing he was a standup, religious man, when his religious beliefs did not extend to being monogamous. She won’t talk about him because she wasted a lot of years with him, when she was ready for marriage and kids. And he was not.
@OriginalMia Sounds about right. Meanwhile he went on podcast campaign whining about being single and his struggle with depression over it.
He also dated his former Chuck costar Yvonne Strahovski sometime around 2016.
It didn’t last long and according to blinds, imploded because once he got her (he pined after her for years), he basically expected her to wait around for him then constantly ditched her for his friends and ignored her until the relationship died out.
When Yvonne got married, she invited most of the Chuck cast EXCEPT Zach to the ceremony.
I’m confused. I thought they were prohibited from discussing any of their current projects. If they can’t discuss anything from their resumes, then I’m not sure why any actors are going to cons. I mean…I know why. They are getting paid to come,
I’m so sad Flynn Ryder is a douche bag. He was my favorite Disney prince because the writing is wonderful in that film.
Regarding Levi dating Yvonne Strahovski in 2016, I know there are photos of her with her now husband Tim Loden identified as her boyfriend back in 2009 and they were very much together at the time when she was filming the train scenes for Chuck and Sarah being together during season 3 of CHUCK (Tim appeared as an extra on that episode). Yvonne and Zack have been involved in projects after CHUCK (animated TANGLED, for example), but it’s always been my impression that she was happy to have him as a work colleague and not really interested in him as a life partner.
Ugh. I loved him in The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, but I’m over that after everything he’s said over the years.
I picture him joining Hallmark movies very soon he fits in already so well there