(Image source from: Reuters)

The sizable United States actors union and the leading television networks on Saturday in agreement to bound auditions in private hotel rooms and homes validated a guideline the screen actors guild had passed on its own following the #MeToo uproar, the union said.

SAG-AFTRA, merging screen actors guild and AFTRA in one union which represents 1,60,000 actors, and administration from ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox reached a provisional agreement on a three-year contract that also reckons an array of pay increases, the guild said in a statement.

The networks and union agreed to language akin to that from the union's own Guideline No. 1, issued in April, which called for an end to auditions, interviews and related professional encounters in private hotel rooms or at secluded residences.

SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris said at the time the goal was to get rid of the potential for "predators to exploit performers behind closed doors under the guise of a professional meeting."

The casting couch has long been in use by men seeking sexual favors from actors in exchange for roles in films.

The measures followed the industry indignation after news reports of sexual misconduct by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein were promulgated.

By Sowmya Sangam