Patti LuPone resigned from union, says ‘she won’t be on stage for a very long time’
Updated 5:50 pm, Friday, February 9, 2016
Photo: Susan Walsh / Associated Press
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U.S. actress Patti LuPone (left) is seen during an appearance on “Dancing with the Stars in January.”
U.S. actress Patti LuPone (left) is seen during an appearance on “Dancing with the Stars in January.”
Photo: Susan Walsh / Associated Press
Patti LuPone resigned from union, says’she won’t be on stage for a very long time’
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LOS ANGELES (AP) – Patti LuPone had a lot of plans on Wednesday. She was set to meet with executives of Fox, the network home of “The O.C.,” and was also set to appear on “Dancing with the Stars.”
But the actress resigned from her union in the middle of the last semifinal, saying her union won’t support her when she’s not on stage. “It’s time to just move on and make a new chapter,” LuPone told the Hollywood Reporter.
At least one other union chief said LuPone’s departure is similar to the one that saw the director Woody Allen resign last year from his union. Allen had a contract preventing him from directing movies for more than two years before resigning, and the union negotiated to allow him to continue working after that period.
However, in her statement to Deadline, LuPone said, “the union’s job is to protect jobs for its members. It will not support a person when the person isn’t onstage or producing films for that union.”
She went on to say, “I know how to run my union and I do not need outside interference. It is my decision to join,” citing the financial and legal uncertainties involved with producing an entire season of “Dancing with the Stars.” “I was not coerced by anyone. I did not ask for help and I am not asking for more money for my union. I asked for help when I needed it and I will now tell others who ask for help because I am now in a position to do so.”
Though LuPone’s statements could be seen as a negotiating
