Screen Actors Guild Issues Guidelines Calling for End to Business Meetings in Hotel Rooms

The Screen Actors Guild issued new guidelines, which call for the end of auditions and professional meetings being held in private hotel rooms and homes, a reaction to the sexual misconduct allegations against Harvey Weinstein and several other powerful Hollywood men.

The Associated Press reported on Thursday that the union is calling on producers and executives to refrain from hosting meetings in these “high-risk locations.” SAG president Gabrielle Carteris said of the guidelines, “We are committed to addressing the scenario that has allowed predators to exploit performers behind closed doors under the guise of a professional meeting.”

In the unlikely case that a location that fits these requirements cannot be found, the union has offered a suggestion: bring along a “support peer” to the meeting at the “high-risk location.”

The Producers Guild of America came out in favor of the measure on Thursday, with PGA’s president Gary Lucchesi and Lori McCreary saying in a joint statement: “We support this practice as an industry standard. With our industry’s guilds working in constructive and coordinated fashion, we look forward to the day when workplace harassment and misconduct is considered a vestige of Hollywood’s history.”

The Commission on Eliminating Sexual Harassment and Advancing Equality in the Workplace has also, according to The Guardian, supported SAG’s guideline, saying, “The implementation of this guideline marks an important first step in communicating appropriate industry standards of professional practices.”