SAG-AFTRA Election: Matthew Modine Threatens To Sue Fran Drescher For “Slanderous” Accusations

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Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterFran Drescher claimed victory in her race for president of SAG-AFTRA on Thursday night, and vowed to lock arms with her fellow union members and “rise up out of the melee.”Easier said than done.Drescher takes charge of a union that is famously fractious, and more divided than it has been in recent years.Even as the star of “The Nanny” defeated Matthew Modine by a narrow margin, Modine’s dissident faction — Membership First — gained seats on the national board,

Charles Rivkin, chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association, has congratulated Fran Drescher on her election as president of SAG-AFTRA.

Jodi Long has been elected president of SAG-AFTRA’s Los Angeles local, defeating Yvette Nicole Brown by a vote of 7,154 to 6,096. She succeeds Patricia Richardson as the local’s president.

After a hard-fought and contentious campaign, Fran Drescher was elected Thursday to become the new president of the acting union SAG-AFTRA.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterFran Drescher has been elected president of SAG-AFTRA, in a victory for the faction that has led the union for a dozen years.But Joely Fisher — who campaigned on the rival Membership First slate — has been elected secretary-treasurer.Drescher will succeed Gabrielle Carteris, who has led the organization since 2016.

Fran Drescher and Matthew Modine have been running against each other to become the next president of SAG-AFTRA and the election results are in.

Fran Drescher has been elected president of SAG-AFTRA and, in a split decision, her opponent’s running mate, Joely Fisher, has been elected national secretary-treasurer. Drescher defeated Matthew Modine, who was making his second bid for the presidency, but her running mate, Anthony Rapp, lost to Fisher. It might be the first split ticket for SAG-AFTRA, and could be just the medicine for a union badly divided.

In one of her last official acts as president of SAG-AFTRA, Gabrielle Carteris today presented Michelle Hurd with the SAG-AFTRA President’s Award for her outstanding commitment to the union’s membership and to the labor movement.

Mike Kraycik has been reelected to SAG-AFTRA’s national board representing Philadelphia – another win for a candidate backed by Fran Drescher’s Unite for Strength ruling party, which now appears likely to hold onto power in the national board room no matter who wins the national presidency – Drescher or Matthew Modine.

Fran Drescher supporters have held on to two more national board seats as the SAG-AFTRA elections wrap up later this week. Incumbent Bill Mootos has been reelected in New England, and incumbent Mel MacKaron has been reelected in New Mexico.

The day after SAG-AFTRA presidential candidate Matthew Modine threatened to sue rival Fran Drescher for defamation unless she issues a public apology, her Unite for Strength slate doubled down on her claim that Modine’s MembershipFirst slate violated the union’s election rules.

Matthew Modine is threatening to file a lawsuit against Fran Drescher if she doesn’t issue a public apology to him by Friday.

Two more local SAG-AFTRA presidencies have been decided: Jim Gleason won a squeaker in New Orleans, and Rik Deskin won handily in Seattle. Both elections are setbacks for Matthew Modine, who’s running against Fran Drescher for national president.

EXCLUSIVE: Candidates backed by Fran Drescher in local SAG-AFTRA elections are racking up impressive wins as early results from around the country continue to come in. Candidates that her Unite for Strength slate deem “Drescher-friendly” already have won in Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston-Austin, Miami, the Missouri Valley, Portland, San Francisco, the Twin Cities and elsewhere.