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After all, Drew Barrymore won’t be bringing back her daytime talk show, “The Drew Barrymore Show,” until the strike is over. The decision comes a week after the actor was criticized for saying that “The Drew Barrymore Show” would premiere Sept. 18 in accordance with WGA guidelines and without writers.
“I’ve listened to everyone and I’m deciding to put the show on hold until the strike is over,” she wrote on Instagram. “I have no words to express my deepest apologies to anyone I’ve hurt and of course to our incredible team who work on the show and make it what it is today. We really struggled to find a way forward. And I really hope that there will be an industry-wide solution very soon.”
Barrymore faced swift backlash for her decision to continue filming her talk show despite ongoing strikes in Hollywood. As part of the fallout, the National Book Awards rescinded Barrymore’s invitation to host its upcoming annual ceremony.
As long as the hosts or guests do not discuss or promote the striked work, Barrymore would not be in violation of SAG-AFTRA rules. (The network code agreement allows daytime hosts to perform hosting duties.) But Barrymore’s show works with union writers, so new episodes would require hiring non-WGA members (or no one at all) to write the show.
At the time, the WGA condemned Barrymore’s decision in a statement: “Drew Barrymore should not be on the air while her writers are on strike and fighting for a fair deal. In fact, shows like this can’t work without writing, and that’s a miracle job.”
“The Jennifer Hudson Show” and “The Talk” also set plans to reboot Monday while writers and actors remain on strike. Other morning talk shows that returned this season include “Live With Kelly and Mark” and the “Tamron Hall Show,” neither of which have writers and are not covered by the WGA.
Barrymore apologized in a now-deleted video, saying it was her choice to bring her show back. “I certainly couldn’t have expected this kind of attention,” she said. “I wanted to do it because like I said, this is bigger than me and other people’s jobs are on the line.
