Drew Barrymore announced that she is returning to her daytime talk show amid the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.
Her decision comes after she turned down hosting the MTV Movie & TV Awards in support of the Writers Guild of America, who went on strike in May to fight for a new contract that meets their demands for better pay, success-based residuals for streaming content, and regulations regarding the use of artificial intelligence.
“I made a choice to walk away from the MTV, film and television awards because I was the host and it had a direct conflict with what the strike was dealing with which was studios, streamers, film, and television,” Barrymore said in a statement posted to Instagram on Sunday. “It was also in the first week of the strike and so I did what I thought was the appropriate thing at the time to stand in solidarity with the writers.”
After Barrymore’s announcement, the Writer’s Guild of America said they would be picketing the talk show at its studio at the CBS Broadcast Center in Manhattan on Monday.
“The Drew Barrymore Show is a WGA-covered, struck show that is planning to return without its writers,” WGA tweeted. “The Guild has and will continue to, picket-struck shows that are in production during the strike. Any writing on ‘The Drew Barrymore Show’ violates WGA strike rules.”
In her statement, Barrymore insisted that her talk show, set to return on Sept. 18 for its fourth season, would abide by the rules of the strike. “I own this choice,” she said. “We are in compliance with not discussing or promoting film and television that is struck of any kind. We launched live in a global pandemic. Our show was built for sensitive times and has only functioned through what the real world is going through in real-time.”
“I hope for a resolve for everyone as soon as possible,” Barrymore added. “We have navigated difficult times since we first came on air. And so I take a step forward to start season 4 once again with an astute humility.”
Editor’s note: Paramount+ and CBS News and Stations are part of Paramount Global, one of the companies affected by the strike. Some CBS News staff are WGA and SAG-AFTRA members but work under different contracts than the writers and actors who are on strike.
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