The SAG Awards move forward with a new name for the 2026 ceremony.

SAG Awards shock with generic, unexpected name change: ‘A new chapter’

The SAG Awards move forward with a new name for the 2026 ceremony.

Joey Nolfi is a senior writer at *. *Since 2016, his work at EW includes *RuPaul's Drag Race* video interviews, Oscars predictions, and more.

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November 14, 2025 3:57 p.m. ET

Demi Moore holds her statuette at 2025 SAG Awards, now known as the Actor Awards. Credit:

Amy Sussman/Getty

- The 2026 SAG Awards will now be known by a new name.

- SAG-AFTRA changed its social media handles to reflect the change on Friday.**

- Demi Moore, Timothée Chalamet, and more were big winners at the 2025 show.

The SAG Awards are no more, as Hollywood's largest union has announced a shocking name change ahead of SAG-AFTRA's 2026 ceremony.

In a move billed as a "new chapter in our history" on the group's official X account, the Screen Actors Guild Awards will now be known as The Actor Awards, per a video announcement on social media.

"Introducing The Actor Awards presented by SAG-AFTRA," the organization's message read, with the account sharing a video highlighting past ceremony attendees cycling through past ceremonies' opening statements, which typically see attendees in the audience looking to camera to state their name, followed by the subject adding, "and I am an actor."

Timothée Chalamet wins at the 2025 SAG Awards, now known as the Actor Awards.

Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty

The video touted the Netflix-hosted ceremony as "exclusively for actors." When reached for comment, a representative for the show confirms via email the name change, and points toward the group's website explaining the reasoning for the shift in name.

"Since the show started over 30 years ago, our iconic statuette has always been called The Actor, and simply evolving the show’s name to align with the award itself made obvious sense," the website statement reads. "We wanted to provide clearer recognition in terms of what the show is about for our domestic and global audiences — we honor actors in film and television. Laser-focusing the name on those two things became the clearest and most straightforward path for this new chapter of the show."**

Additionally, the site stressed that "we’re simply aligning the show’s title with the name of the award itself and the union behind it."**

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The site also indicates that there will be no changes to the submissions, nominations, and final voting processes, and that "past winners and audiences included will still refer to their award and the show as the SAG Awards" by mistake, "and that's ok. We know it'll take time to adjust to the change."

Further, SAG-AFTRA will continue to present and organize the awards show, as they have for the last three decades.

** has additionally reached out to Netflix for comment.**

SAG Awards' new logo as The Actor Awards Presented by SAG-AFTRA.

The Actor Awards are an important stepping stone on any potential Oscar contender's path toward an acting nomination at the Academy Awards.

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With heavy crossover membership into the Academy's largest voting branch, SAG-AFTRA members' votes often determine winners at the Actor Awards that go on to win Oscars, including last year's Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress Oscar champions Kieran Culkin and Zoe Saldaña.

Despite the strong crossover track record, both Best Actress (Mikey Madison) and Best Actor (Adrien Brody) Oscar winners didn't pick up earlier statuettes at the Actor Awards, with Demi Moore and Timothée Chalamet instead scoring with SAG-AFTRA's voters.

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW SAG”