Fran Drescher has blasted Hollywood studios in a fiery speech after talks between the actors’ union and studios failed to avert a strike, calling them “disgusting” for claiming “they’re losing money left and right when giving hundreds of millions of dollars to their CEOs”.

In a speech that was widely circulated on Thursday – particularly among many who did not know The Nanny star was heading up Sag-Aftra, Hollywood’s biggest union – Drescher said actors were being “marginalised, disrespected and dishonoured” by a business model that has been drastically changed by streaming and artificial intelligence.

“What happens here is important because what’s happening to us is happening across all fields of labor, when employers make Wall Street and greed their priority and they forget about the essential contributors that make the machine run,” she said.

“We are the victims here. We are being victimised by a very greedy entity. I am shocked by the way the people that we have been in business with are treating us.

“I cannot believe it, quite frankly, how far apart we are on so many things. How they plead poverty, that they’re losing money left and right when giving hundreds of millions of dollars to their CEOs. It is disgusting. Shame on them. They stand on the wrong side of history.”

On Thursday it was announced that 160,000 Sag-Aftra members – from big stars to background actors – will be joining the Writers Guild of America in a strike, marking the biggest shutdown of Hollywood since both unions last went on strike together in 1960.

The unions are fighting for better terms with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, an entity that represents major studios and streamers, including Amazon, Apple, Disney, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Paramount, Sony and Warner Bros Discovery.

Drescher, who became union president in 2021, has long expressed concerns about corporate greed, captioning photos with slogans like “STOP CAPITALIST GREED NOW” and tweeting sentiments including: “Capitalism has become another word for Ruling Class Elite!” In 2017 New York Magazine ran the headline: “Your New Favorite Anti-Capitalist Icon Is Fran Drescher.”

Drescher also described herself as “anti-capitalist” in an interview with Vulture that year, saying: “I’m not anti-making-money, don’t get me wrong. I don’t think making money is a bad thing, per se. But it has to be calibrated within the spectrum of what’s a true value.

“What I really tell people is, ‘you might be the first ones at a global-warming rally, but meanwhile, do you know what’s in your investment portfolio?’ We need to not be supporting these companies at all.”

Drescher’s speech on Thursday was off-the-cuff, with the 65-year-old actor shaking her fists and sometimes blinking away tears. “Wake up and smell the coffee,” she told the studios. “We demand respect! You cannot exist without us!”

Sag-Aftra members have been ordered to stop any work connected to productions, including red carpets and promoting their work on social media. The London premiere of Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer was pulled forward one hour to avoid the start of the strike, with the cast leaving during the film as it was officially announced.

On Twitter Bette Midler criticised tech companies in a thread listing the many industries that were being hurt, before focusing on Hollywood. “The actors are right to strike, as are the writers,” she wrote. “If you want to devalue and destroy an industry, it’s no longer a sustainable business model.”

Cynthia Nixon tweeted that she is “proud to be standing tall” with the WGA and that studios that have been “reaping from our labor for far too long”. She added: “We will win this!”

Jamie Lee Curtis shared an Instagram post that read: “It’s time to take down the MASKS and pick up the SIGNS”.