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Last week Patrick J. Adams — who played Mike Ross, the love interest to Meghan Markle’s character Rachel Zane on Suits — posted throwback, behind-the-scenes images from the show on his Instagram. He was feeling nostalgic. Only thing is, posting about projects amid the SAG-AFTRA strike is a no-no, as Patrick was quickly reminded of. Patrick deleted the original posts and replaced them with an apology, in which he said he was embarrassed about his oversight:
Patrick J. Adams is taking accountability after realizing he made an error in reminiscing about his time on Suits.
“The last couple of days I foolishly and thoughtlessly let a trip down Suits memory lane distract me from the very real and ongoing fight everyone in @sagaftra continues to wage in its effort to win our membership realistic 21st century compensation and protections,” he wrote via his Instagram Story on Wednesday, September 27.
Adams, 42, apologized for his “embarrassing oversight,” noting, “So grateful for those who gently and swiftly course corrected me here and I look forward to continuing the fight in the days and weeks ahead.”
He concluded his statement with the hashtag, “#sagaftrastrong.”
Adams portrayed Mike Ross on the USA Network series, which aired for nine seasons from 2011 to 2019. Earlier this week, he shared several behind-the-scenes glimpses of himself and costar Meghan Markle, who played Rachel Zane, and other former Suits stars.
“I miss my friends,” he captioned one photo of Markle, 42, laying barefoot on the floor with costar Sarah Rafferty.
Suits has seen a resurgence in popularity this year after it became available to stream on Netflix and Peacock. Despite the show’s second wind, Adams is restricted from discussing the project as a member of SAG-AFTRA while the organization remains on strike.
So, I really do think this was an honest mistake here. He wasn’t promoting new work, nor was he making a point of calling strike rules “so dumb” and then backtracking to say his words were taken out of context. The posts seemed more like a Throwback Thursday moment (despite being posted on a Wednesday). But Patrick took ownership of the slip up and, as he said, course corrected. While it was abundantly clear to anyone who read his apology that he was embarrassed about breaking strike rules, the folks at the Daily Mail seemed to have missed the memo. Quelle surprise. The first sentence of their long-winded headline read “Why IS Patrick J. Adams so desperate to apologise over Meghan’s posts?”
“This well is deeeep”
Patrick J. Adams, the gift that keeps on giving 📸
Safe to say he’s also in his suits nostalgia era ✨ pic.twitter.com/NoGY1gIgsN
— Iris 🦆 (@IrisTheeScholar) September 27, 2023
Can’t it be considered as promotion with the show having renewed popularity on netflix ? (Not trying to be mean, it’s a genuine question)
Yes, it’s considered promo, that’s why he took it down. I don’t think his intention was promo, but he still broke the rules. Nice apology and I think all is well.
Sorry don’t have any of the social media. But did he post actual photos from the show? Or were they personal photos he took behind the scenes? If they were behind the scenes then I don’t see what the big deal is about. That really isn’t promoting suits. Just showing photos he took of his friends at work. All of this is getting ridiculous. I want SAG and the writers to be fairly compensated. But people are going overboard with all you can’t do this or that. I would think the not showing up and working would be enough. The UAW are on strike also. Does that mean they shouldn’t drive any of the cars that they are striking against?
It was all behind the scenes photos and his account has been very open about supporting the strike, so this seems a little excessive.
Agreed.
So he’s breaking strike rules by posting old photos from a show no longer in production, but he can do stuff like go to film festivals to promote current projects? Make it make sense.
Given that Suits has just been added to Netflix in the US and is very popular on the platform, I can see why it could be viewed as promotion.
Yup. the show has been over for years but it’s made a huge resurgence. He made the right decision by removing the photos and apologizing.
They were cute throwbacks and I think it was wise of him to take the photos down. I didn’t know his wife Troian Bellisario is biracial. On the show and in life Patrick is out of his league.
Yah! I read somewhere that the RZ role was originally meant for her, but that could just be made up internet rumors. Her guest appearances on the show were great, and MM was fantastic as RZ, so it all worked out.
Totally agree, girl_ninja. Rachel Zane was SO far superior to Mike Ross… I really enjoyed the series — Meghan slays — but I didn’t buy the Rachel/Mike pairing.
See I bought the pairing because a LOT of gorgeous girls date/marry men who are not as good looking as them. On TV shows and in real life. Mike Ross is so entitled and obnoxious at times but because Patrick is so cute and normal looking it worked. If he was as handsome as Gabriel Macht then it wouldn’t have worked as well.
Looks like an honest mistake and I’m sure he’s not the first or last to accidentally post something that bumps up against the rules.
I think most people probably think that posting stuff from old shows isnt an issue because it’s not like they’re promoting a new thing but the issue is that Suits is performing like a new hit on streaming right now so it could be seen as promoting that. I don’t think that was his intention and writers on the show have been giving interviews and tweeting about it but they’ve also been talking about how little they get in residuals from its resurgance which is one of the many issues that led to these strikes, so i think Patrick was right to apologize for the oversight and take it down.
Hopefully after WGA was able to get a good deal SAG will be able to as well and actors no matter how unknown or famous will get what they deserve and then the Suits cast and crew can publicly celebrate its resurgence and the time they spent together all those years on that show.
I agree with all of this. His apology was on point, and ultimately just brought more attention to the strike and its reasons. Go, SAG, go!
The photos were adorable. Hopefully he’ll put them back up at some point.