“Do Not Join SAG” - Drake Bell Takes Aim at SAG-AFTRA President Sean Astin Over Health Insurance Woes
via Imago
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Drake Bell has publicly slammed SAG-AFTRA and its president Sean Astin after learning he does not qualify for the union’s health insurance this year. The Drake & Josh actor has spent recent years leaning into music and voice work, a path that turns out to be a quiet one for union benefits. A single webpage delivered the news, and Bell clearly did not plan to keep it to himself on social media.
While Bell scrolled through a website that said no, his Instagram followers were about to see a message that said much more.
Drake & Josh star Drake Bell tells actors not to join SAG-AFTRA
Drake Bell told fellow actors to stay far away from the union after the SAG-AFTRA health plan website informed him that he does not qualify for coverage. The Drake & Josh star also took a direct swipe at SAG-AFTRA president Sean Astin, criticizing the union’s leadership and its health insurance requirements.
“Do not become an actor. Do not join SAG,” Bell posted on his Instagram Story.
He then sarcastically added, “@SAGAFTRA really though @SeanAstin you’re doing a bang up job,” taking a jab at the union’s leadership.
Sean Astin Political Theater UNITED STATES - JULY 1: Sean Astin, president of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, is interviewed about his role with SAG-AFTRA during the Political Theater podcast with Jason Dick, editor in chief of CQ Roll Call, in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, July 1, 2026. (Tom Williams CQ Roll Call) Washington DC United States EDITORIAL USE ONLY Copyright: x2026xCQ-RollxCall,xInc.x TomxWilliamsx rollcallpix171830
Sean Astin Political Theater UNITED STATES - JULY 1: Sean Astin, president of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, is interviewed about his role with SAG-AFTRA during the Political Theater podcast with Jason Dick, editor in chief of CQ Roll Call, in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, July 1, 2026. (Tom Williams CQ Roll Call) Washington DC United States EDITORIAL USE ONLY Copyright: x2026xCQ-RollxCall,xInc.x TomxWilliamsx rollcallpix171830
On his Instagram Story, Bell revealed that the page listed $17,480.53 in covered earnings from July 2025 to June 2026, leaving him $11,452.47 short of the $28,933 required. Bell then suggested that actors should stop running things, since performers apparently only know how to talk on camera. Actors Jack Haven and Heather Matarazzo voiced similar worries last month, so Bell is hardly alone.
Bell is $11,452.47 short of union coverage, while the president he tagged, once sold his house over a Middle Earth paycheck.
Sean Astin sold his house after a small The Lord of the Rings salary
The man Drake Bell tagged has money troubles of his own, since Astin said on the Jim and Sam Show in 2017 that his The Lord of the Rings pay of $75,000 was far lower than fans would expect for playing Samwise Gamgee. He said the money was not good, though he held no bitterness, and he ended up selling his house afterwards. The revelation stunned many fans, because the trilogy became one of the highest-grossing fantasy franchises ever made.
Truth of the CIA s MKULTRA Project UNITED STATES - JUNE 30: Sean Astin, president of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, testifies during the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet hearing titled A Midlife Crisis? IP and the Internet After 40, in Rayburn building on Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (Tom Williams CQ Roll Call) Washington DC United States
Truth of the CIA s MKULTRA Project UNITED STATES - JUNE 30: Sean Astin, president of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, testifies during the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet hearing titled A Midlife Crisis? IP and the Internet After 40, in Rayburn building on Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (Tom Williams CQ Roll Call) Washington DC United States
Astin told The Guardian that after he bought a larger home in the hills, his business manager said he needed to earn $250,000 every year to keep it. That felt safe until The Lord of the Rings offer covered a year and a half of filming in New Zealand. All three films were made together, so Astin had no chance to renegotiate after the first became a hit. A $75,000 salary cost Astin his house. Astin knows exactly how it feels to fall short of a number, and now he leads the union whose number Bell cannot reach.
What are your thoughts on Drake Bell taking aim at SAG-AFTRA and Sean Astin? Let us know in the comments.
Edited By: Itti Mahajan
