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A bit of shocking news this afternoon, as the Screen Actors Guild announced today that the SAG Awards will now be known as the Actor Awards. Below, you can see some answers to questions that the Guild posted on their website. Take a look:
Why are you changing the name of the SAG Awards?
Since the show started over 30 years ago, our iconic statuette has always been called The Actor®, and simply evolving the show’s name to align with the award itself made obvious sense. We wanted to provide clearer recognition in terms of what the show is about for our domestic and global audiences – we honor actors in film and television. Laser-focusing the name on those two things became the clearest and most straightforward path for this new chapter of the show.
When was this first discussed? Why now?
This evolution has been a long time coming. Since the show’s inception, the statuette has been called The Actor® and, as the show’s global audience expanded through Netflix, the timing felt right to make the alignment official and step confidently into the show’s next era.
What exactly is changing and what’s staying the same?
The show’s name is now The Actor Awards presented by SAG-AFTRA, but the foundation remains the same: it’s actors honoring actors. The statuette has always been called The Actor®, and we’re simply aligning the show’s title with the name of the award itself and the union behind it.
How does this impact the legacy and prestige of the SAG Awards?
The legacy and prestige remains exactly the same. We’re excited to evolve the name to further support who we are and the future growth of the show.
Will audiences still recognize this as the SAG Awards?
Yes. The show’s spirit and purpose will remain the same – it’s still actors honoring actors – only the show name is evolving. The refreshed name will help introduce it to new audiences globally.
Source: SAG
It’s hard to imagine a worse time than right now to downplay the straightforward fact that this ceremony is funded, organized, and run annually by a labor union.
Terrible, short-sighted decision that SAG will come to regret later.
Quite possibly.