LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: 'The Nanny' star and SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher slammed Hollywood studios in a fiery speech after SAG-AFTRA officially went on strike joining WGA members, making it the first time actors and writers came together to strike since the 1960s. In her passionate speech, which went immediately viral on social media, Drescher claimed actors were being "marginalized, disrespected and dishonored" amid the rise of streaming services and artificial intelligence in the new business model.
She called the studios "disgusting" for claiming "they’re losing money left and right when giving hundreds of millions of dollars to their CEOs." Drescher noted, "What’s happening to us is happening across all fields of labor," and claimed "employers make Wall Street and greed their priority and they forget about the essential contributors that make the machine run." The actress further added, "We are the victims here. We are being victimized by a very greedy entity. I am shocked by the way the people that we have been in business with are treating us."
For the unversed, Drescher, who rose to fame playing Fran Fine in the sitcom 'The Nanny', was elected as the president of SAG-AFTRA by the national members of the trade union on September 2, 2021. On the personal front, she has been married twice, to Peter Marc Jacobson from 1978 to 1999, and to Shiv Ayyadurai from 2014 to 2016.
What is known about Fran Drescher's first husband Peter Marc Jacobson?
Drescher's first husband, Jacobson, is an American TV writer, director, producer and actor. He is best known as the showrunner of 'The Nanny', which starred his-then wife Drescher in the lead role. The latter also helped her then-husband produce and create the show. Jacobson was born on October 27, 1957 and was credited as Peter Marc in his initial acting roles. In addition to 'The Nanny', he also served as the producer of 'What I Like About You' and 'Happily Divorced', which he also wrote.
Jacobson also served as a writer for 'Who's the Boss?' and 'Country Comfort' and had acting credits in 'Wonder Woman (TV Series)', 'Movers & Shakers', 'Dangerous Love', 'Beverly Hills, 90210', 'Matlock', 'The Nanny' and 'Happily Divorced', among others. The latter was reportedly based on the events of Drescher and Jacobson's life together. Reports suggest the pair first met when Drescher was 15 years old and quickly became high school sweethearts.
The duo tied the knot in 1978 when Drescher was just 21 years old, marking the beginning of a longtime relationship. However, the couple parted ways in 1996 and divorced in 1999, ending their 21 years of marriage. They never had any children. Shortly after, Jacobson came out as gay while Drescher started working toward supporting the LGBTQ+ community.
"He got in touch with his true orientation. I can't blame him for that," Drescher told People in 2011. "I still couldn't even say the word 'gay,' but I confessed to Fran that I was dating men," Jacobson recalled. Despite their split, the pair continued to maintain a "tight" friendship. "We work together. Go out to eat. Travel together. I feel like I still have a wife," the producer shared at the time.
Who is Fran Drescher's second husband Shiv Ayyadurai?
Several years after ending her marriage with Jacobson, Drescher married Ayyadurai in September 2014. The pair reportedly tied the knot in a ceremony at the SAG-AFTRA president's beach house. Although both announced that they were married at the time, Ayyadurai later said in an interview it was not "a formal wedding or marriage" but a celebration of their "friendship in a spiritual ceremony with close friends and her family."
Drescher and Ayyadurai ultimately decided to end their marriage and parted ways in 2016. Ayyadurai is an Indian-American businessman, engineer, and politician. He was born on December 2, 1963, in Mumbai, India, and grew up in Tamil Nadu before moving to the US with his family at age 7. Ayyadurai holds four degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), including a PhD in biological engineering. He is also a Fulbright grant recipient.
The 59-year-old is famous for claiming to have invented email as a teenager. In a 2011 Time article, Ayyadurai revealed that in August 1982, he registered the copyright on an email application he had written, sparking debates among historians and researchers. He also garnered attention for questioning the working conditions of CSIR India, the country’s largest scientific agency, and for scrutinizing the safety of genetically modified food like soybeans.
Ayyadurai also made the news during the Covid-19 pandemic for his anti-vaccine stance, promoting unfounded treatment for Covid and campaigning to fire Anthony Fauci. He also dabbled in politics, running as an independent candidate in the 2018 US Senate election in Massachusetts and as a candidate for Republican Party in the 2020 US Senate election in Massachusetts.
Fran Drescher 's close relationship with Peter Marc Jacobson
Years after their separation, Drescher and Jacobson have continued to maintain a close relationship. During a 2022 interview with the Daily Mail, the actress shared that she will possibly never get married again and grow old with her openly-gay former husband instead. "Over the course of time, we kept moving towards each other and now we are probably closer than when we were married: business partners, best of friends and definitely a family," she told the publication.
"I don't think I will ever walk up the aisle with anyone. But I do see us growing old together," Drescher added. "We are divorced, but still single because it is hard to compete with what we shared. We have been together since we were 15 and we've been through so much," she noted at the time.
