YouTube superstar Markiplier said he supports striking actors, but joked that he doesn't know how it works being 'on strike' against himself

• Markiplier said he is on strike in solidarity with The Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA).
• He said he is a member because he has appeared in union productions.

YouTuber Markiplier told his followers in a recent livestream that he was on strike in solidarity with actors and writers as their labor dispute continues.

The YouTube gaming star, whose real name is Mark Fischbach and who has 35 million subscribers, said he was currently striking while his movie "Iron Lung" is in production.

"I'm on strike, apparently," he said in the 1 hour 15 minute stream on Monday. "Yeah, I'm on strike, I'm walking out on my work, I'm not taking this anymore until my boss treats me with the respect I deserve."

Fischbach was partly joking with the announcement, as he is self-employed, and the movie is his own project.

He said he didn't mean to poke fun, though, and was standing in solidarity with his fellow colleagues of The Screen Actors Guild — American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). He said he was a member because he had previously appeared in union productions.

While he was happy to support the striking film and TV workers in their ongoing labor dispute with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), Fischbach said he didn't know what his own strike would entail.

"I'm all for the strike," he said, referencing some new controversial practices suggested by the entertainment industry recently, such as Hollywood studios wanting to use the image of extras as AI generated replicas indefinitely for free. But, he added, "I don't know who I take it to."

"I don't know who I'm going to, I don't know where I picket, I don't know what I'm supposed to do," he said. "Am I even allowed to stream? I don't even know what I'm doing."

Fischback said it was an "opportune moment" in the film industry to change the rules around burgeoning concerns. But his main priority was getting his movie — an adaptation of an indie horror game of the same name — out to his fans.

"It's not like there's a production company making my movie, it's just me," he said. "So I don't know. Do I strike against myself? I don't know what to do."

He said he wasn't "100% on how things go," but assumed he could still keep working on his project.

"I think I'm fine editing it, I don't think there's any problem with that," he said. "And I'm fine making it because I funded it. Unless I'm striking against myself, I've really got nothing to object against."

He added that this was still "confusing," and he wasn't sure anyone would pay attention to what he chose to do anyway.

"Hollywood in general barely gives me the time of day, let alone probably care," he said, referring to his previous "awkward" encounters with the mainstream entertainment industry, such as getting ignored on red carpets despite his superstardom on the internet.

Fischback also spoke about actor Anthony Mackie who made comments in June that some believed to be derogatory towards internet celebrities.

"It's a shit show if we go on strike," Mackie told Inverse at the time, saying producers "have to" come to a fair agreement. "They're going to have to. Unless they get a bunch of fucking YouTubers to make Avengers 5!"

Fischback said he was still on the same side, but he also thought, "Hey, hold on a second, what did we do to you? What did we ever do to you?"

"I'm sure they meant well," Fischback said. "And I'm sure that not all YouTubers are jerks. I think I'm kind of nice sometimes."