Patti LuPone has branded the Actors' Equity Association (AEA) the "worst union".
The 73-year-old actress announced earlier this week that she is leaving the organisation and although she's been a member for five decades, the 'American Horror Story' star claimed they have no idea who she is.
She told People magazine: "They accepted my resignation and told me that if I ever wanted to rejoin, I'd have to be approved.
"And it's the perfect reason I withdrew from Equity. Fifty years to this year ... I've been a card-carrying member of Equity, and they don't know who I am basically," LuPone continues. "They just said, 'Fine, but if you want to rejoin, we're going to have to approve you.' "
Patti insisted the union doesn't "support actors at all".
She added: "They're just not good. And I just didn't want to give them any more money."
The Tony Award-winning star - who infamously stopped a production of 'Gypsy' she was starring in in 2009 when an audience member was on their phone - quit the union after growing frustrated seeing her name "bandied about" in connection to a more recent incident that she had no connection to, which saw an audience member at 'Hadestown' reprimanded for using a captioning device.
She said: "I just thought, 'This is ridiculous.' And I don't know when I'm going to be back on stage."
While many thought the move would mean Patti's stage career is over, some productions grant guest contracts so she'd still be able to perform, as well as taking part in concert productions and cabarets.
She said: "But then the best kept secret is that you can perform without being a member of Equity. Nobody knows that, so I don't use their services. So, I'm not a member of Equity anymore."
But the 'Evita' star would also prefer to work more in film and TV.
She added: "I don't think I will be doing eight shows a week ever again. Not that I can't, because that's what I'm built for. I don't want to."
