Paramount+ Cancels ‘Special Ops: Lioness’ Red Carpet Premiere Due to SAG Strike

Loree Seitz
·2 min read

Paramount+ has canceled the red carpet premiere of upcoming series “Special Ops: Lioness” amid the recently enacted SAG-AFTRA strike, TheWrap has confirmed.

“In light of today’s news of an official SAG strike, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the red carpet premiere of ‘Special Ops: Lioness,’ planned for Tuesday, July 18,” the streamer wrote in a statement. “We recognize this is disappointing news and apologize for any inconvenience it causes. We are very excited to celebrate the series and can’t wait for it to debut to Paramount+ audiences on July 23rd.”

The series, which was created by “Yellowstone” franchise architect Taylor Sheridan, features a cast of stars like Zoe Saldaña, Laysla De Oliveira, Nicole Kidman, Morgan Freeman, Michael Kelly, Dave Annable, Jill Wagner, LaMonica Garrett, James Jordan and Austin Hébert, among others, who were expected to walk Tuesday’s red carpet.

Also Read:
SAG-AFTRA Issues Formal Strike Guidelines: No On-Camera Singing, Dancing or Stunts

In accordance with SAG-AFTRA’s official strike policies, actors would have been prohibited from attending the premiere during the strike, which begins Friday morning at midnight. The official policies forbids SAG members from participating in promotional activities including tours, personal appearances, interviews, conventions, fan expos, festivals, for your consideration events, panels, premieres and screenings, award shows, junkets, podcast appearances, social media and studio showcases.

The cancellation of the “Special Ops: Lioness” premiere marks one of the first red carpets to be canned amid the historic double strike as SAG-AFTRA members join the WGA, who has been on strike since May 2.

As the strike authorization was finalized on Thursday, the cast of “Oppenheimer” exited the U.K. premiere of the historic epic ahead of the screening in solidarity with the SAG-AFTRA strike.

“I have to to acknowledge the work of our incredible cast, led by Cillian Murphy,” director Christopher Nolan said in his introductory remarks ahead of the screening. “The list is enormous — Robert Downey Jr, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh, Kenneth Branagh, Rami Malek and so many more. … You’ve seen them here earlier on the red carpet. Unfortunately, they are off to write their picket signs for what we believe to be an imminent strike by SAG, joining one of my guilds, the Writers Guild, in the struggle for fair wages for working members of their union.”

Also Read:
‘Oppenheimer’ Cast Ghosts UK Premiere in Preparation for SAG-AFTRA Strike