While the writers’ and actors’ strikes continue, Drew Barrymore has returned to work on her daytime talk show, The Drew Barrymore Show. The third season of the show completed up in April 2023, only a few weeks before the start of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike in early May.
The actress received backlash after announcing that The Drew Barrymore Show would return to television on Monday, September 18, due to the fact that its timing made it seem like the show had been cancelled indefinitely in support of the strike rather than a regularly scheduled summer hiatus.
What Happened With Drew Barrymore?
Barrymore has been acting since she was five years old, making her a member of SAG-AFTRA. However, talk shows are covered by the Network Television Code contract, which is different from the Television/Theatrical/Streaming contracts that recently ended due to a lack of agreement between the guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). Talk show hosts and guests are not on strike at the moment, just like the casts of other types of television programs.
In an Instagram post announcing the return of her program, Barrymore claimed that it was “in compliance with not discussing or promoting film and television that is struck of any kind” as required by the SAG-AFTRA strike regulations.
The show’s return to television does not violate the simultaneous strikes, but it does affect the WGA members who work on the show. The WGA-East put it clearly on Twitter: “The [Drew Barrymore Show] is a WGA-covered, strike show that is intending to return without its writers. The Guild has been and will be picketing programs in production that have gone on strike. ‘The Drew Barrymore Show’ is on strike because any scripting done by writers is illegal under WGA guidelines.
The @DrewBarrymoreTV Show is a WGA covered, struck show that is planning to return without its writers. 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 strike rules.
— Writers Guild of America, East (@WGAEast) September 10, 2023
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Why are Protesters Picketing the Performance Now?
Picketers gathered outside of CBS Broadcast Center in New York on Monday, the day when production of new episodes of The Drew Barrymore Show began, even though the show won’t return to television until the following week. WGA-East has indicated that the show is a striking production, however Drew Barrymore and CBS reps insist that the show is in conformity with the strikes because it does not promote work from the studios and streamers that are participating in the strikes.
Take a look at below tweet:
Drew Barrymore’s show is getting so much bad publicity I don’t see it making it to another season. U can’t expect regular (non-rich) folks to support u when u don’t support them back who make u look good!
Support all unions!!! pic.twitter.com/7e57RKOLvW— 𝘴᭙ꫀꫀ𝓽 ᥴꪖ𝘳ꪑꫀꪶ (@SweetCarmel77) September 13, 2023
Two people in the audience said they were sent out on the show’s first day back because they were wearing WGA pins they were handed at the door. After being ejected from the studio, the two spectators decided to join the picketers. The production claimed in a statement provided, “Drew was completely unaware of the incident and we are in the process of reaching out to the affected audience members to offer them new tickets.”
Is there More Criticism for Drew Barrymore’s Show than for Others?
While other daytime talk shows have continued production during the strikes, The Drew Barrymore Show appears to have garnered more online criticism, at least in terms of volume. The host’s history of supporting workers on strike could be seen as a contributing factor to the current uproar over Barrymore.
Since she seemed more sympathetic to the cause when she stood out as host of the MTV Movie Awards in May in support of the WGA, her choice to return to work without WGA writers has rubbed people the wrong way. She said in a statement released days into the strike, “I have listened to the writers, and in order to truly respect them, I will pivot from hosting the MTV Movie & TV Awards live in solidarity with the strike.”
The View, which decided in May to go on without its WGA writers and premiered its 27th season last week despite pickets, is an exception. As the strikes continue, the hosts of the late-night talk programs Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, and John Oliver have decided to take a different tack by cohosting a podcast called Strike Force Five to raise money for their striking employees.
Strike action by the WGA began on May 2. The guild is advocating for a variety of changes, including higher compensation, security against the disruption of writing techniques by artificial intelligence, improved residuals, and more openness surrounding streaming data. The AMPTP, which represents Hollywood’s big studios and streaming services, has rapidly rejected most of the WGA’s ideas. For more details, you can join us on our Twitter account.