Dax Shepard admitted he is grappling with a “new fear” of going broke because of the Hollywood writers and actors’ strike that has now stretched for more than 100 days.
“I am currently in a two-month spiral of just completely out-of-hand financial insecurity,” Shephard told podcast guest Jason Derulo during an episode of “Armchair Expert” released Monday.
“This new fear of I’m gong to somehow be broke or I’m going to lose everything, podcasting is somehow going to be over, and there’s an actors’ strike and I’m not going to act,” the 48-year-old added.
That’s despite the fact that, even without acting because of the strike, Shepard is objectively among society’s upper echelon, raking in a salary of $9 million thanks to “Armchair Expert’s” multi-year licensing deal with Spotify in July 2021.
As of August 2023, “Armchair Expert,” which Shepard co-hosts with producer Monica Padman, is the tenth most listened to podcast on Spotify, according to the digital streaming service’s podcast ranking.
Together with his movie star wife Kristen Bell, Shepard has a reported net worth of $40 million, and lives in a palatial $4.3 million home in a gated community in Los Angeles.
After purchasing the sprawling enclave in 2017, the famous couple reportedly spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to upgrade the property’s 4,048 square feet of space before moving in with their two daughters, nine-year-old Lincoln and eight-year-old Delta.
However, Shepard hasn’t landed an acting role since 2022, when he made a three-episode cameo as the voice of Chad in the adult short animated series “Stoner Cats.”
The show — which required viewers to purchase non-fungible tokens of intoxicated felines in order to watch — was a hit, selling out its initial 13,420 tokens in just 35 minutes for 3,657 ETH, or about $8.5 million.
It’s unclear how much of that nine-figure sum Shepard received.
Shepard, who rose to fame for his role as “field agent” on the hidden-camera, practical-joke reality series “Punk’d” admitted that his newfound worries are “so foundationless it’s preposterous.”
“It’s not related to reality, it’s from growing up poor,” the “Chips” actor — who grew up in suburban Detroit — added. “You can’t shake it.”
Derulo agreed, recalling his parents, who immigrated from Haiti, divorcing for about three years after “a lot of arguments and turmoil” that came “from money fights.”
“When I was a kid, my parents would fight about money all the time,” the 33-year-old “Glad U Came” singer said, noting that even when he made his fortune, “there were still money problems.”
Shepard referenced a Mike Tyson quote to sum up the conversation: “Anyone who tells me that a lot of money will make you happy, what I know about them is they’ve never had a lot of money.”
Hollywood, meanwhile, is losing $150 million per week since 160,000 workers represented by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) joined Writers Guild of America (WGA) members on the picket lines in July, according to Forbes.
The outlet predicts that the economic fallout from the strike, which officially kicked off on May 1, could exceed $3 billion as studios struggle to produce new, high-quality content without writers or actors.
Analysts told Forbes that audiences are looking for alternative entertainment options, like live sports and reality TV shows as the production of highly anticipated films like “Gladiator 2” and the eighth “Mission Impossible,” plus streaming faves like “Outer Banks” and “Stranger Things” are halted.
The consequences of shutting down Hollywood probably won’t be felt to their extent until months after a new deal is struck between SAG-AFTRA, WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) — which represents studios and streamers like Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount.
Experts attributed the trickle-down effect to rushed production schedules and sparse talent availability that will likely impact the quality of content once the strike is over, according to Forbes.
For reference, a 100-day strike only involving Hollywood writers that took place 16 years ago cost the industry over $2.1 billion, Forbes reported.