Drew Barrymore said she would pause production on her daytime talk show after facing tremendous backlash from writers, actors and fans over her decision to bring the show back amid the Hollywood strike.
“I have listened to everyone, and I am making the decision to pause the show’s premiere until the strike is over,” she said in a statement posted on Instagram. “I have no words to express my deepest apologies to anyone I have hurt and, of course, to our incredible team who works on the show and has made it what it is today.”
Barrymore announced on Sept. 10 that “The Drew Barrymore Show” would kick up production again amid the writers’ and actors’ strikes, which led to protests and picketing from the Writers Guild of America outside her New York studio last week.
Writers have been on strike for more than four months, campaigning for better pay and protections in the streaming era. The Screen Actors Guild started its own strike in July over similar issues, including better residual pay from streaming services. The “Drew Barrymore Show” employs three WGA writers, all of whom picketed outside the show’s taping last week.
“I truly hope for a resolution for the entire industry very soon,” Barrymore wrote on Instagram on Sunday. Representatives for Barrymore did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
CBS originally announced in early September that Barrymore’s show would return for a new season with a premiere date of Sept. 18. A CBS Media spokesperson said Sunday that the company stands with Barrymore.
“We support Drew’s decision to pause the show’s return and understand how complex and difficult this process has been for her,” the spokesperson said.
As taping was underway on Monday and Tuesday, those who attended said they were greeted by WGA protesters and picketers, who chanted phrases like “CBS! You are a mess!” and “We expect more from Drew Barry-more!” Some audience members were handed WGA support pins. According to multiple reports, two Barrymore fans wearing WGA pins were asked to leave the taping for security reasons.
“The Guild has, and will continue to, picket struck shows that are in production during the strike. Any writing on ‘The Drew Barrymore Show’ is in violation of WGA rules,” a post on the WGA East’s Instagram account said last week.
Her decision to resume production also prompted the National Book Awards to rescind its invitation to Barrymore to host the next ceremony. Writers on social media criticized Barrymore for moving ahead with the taping. In May, Barrymore declined to host the MTV Movie and TV Awards to support the strike.
A number of daytime talk shows have remained in production despite the strike, including “The View.” Similarly, “Jeopardy!” announced in August that it would return with recycled questions for its 40th season.
Last week, “The Jennifer Hudson Show” and “The Talk” announced they would return during the strike shortly after Barrymore made her decision. It’s unclear if those shows will pause production, too.
I have a hard time faulting her. She wasn’t required to stop her show, in the same way actors were continuing to work with the scripts that were finished. Even Ryan Reynolds continued to shoot Deadpool 3, despite not being allowed to improv.
Good for her though. As far as I’m concerned, shutting down in solidarity is just extra.
Which is honestly part of what made the first two Deadpool movies great. I’d half expect Deadpool to look straight at the camera and go “I was going to make a joke here, but Ryan Reynolds isn’t allowed to improv because of the WGA strike.” But also, would that be considered improv?
That’s what a title card is used for. Just literally slap that text on a black box to cover the screen/scene, and mute the audio. Just don’t do that more than once in the film
People either do things out of solidarity or because the backlash damages their image/pocket book.
Drew isn’t doing this out of solidarity. If she was she wouldn’t be walking past her own writers on the picket line. But would be out there supporting them. That’s solidarity.
What Drew is doing is saving face.