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Drew Barrymore won’t bring back her daytime talk show “The Drew Barrymore Show” until after the strike ends. The decision comes a week after the actor was criticized for saying “The Drew Barrymore Show” would premiere on September 18 under WGA guidelines and without a book.
“I’ve listened to everyone, and I’m making the decision to pause the show’s premiere until the strike ends,” she wrote on Instagram. “I have no words to express my deepest apologies to anyone I’ve hurt, and of course to our amazing team who work on the show and make it what it is today. We’ve really been trying to find our way forward. I really hope a solution can be found for the entire industry very soon.”
Barrymore faced swift backlash for her decision to resume taping of her talk show despite ongoing labor strikes in Hollywood. As part of the fallout, the National Book Awards have rescinded their invitation to Barrymore to host the upcoming annual awards ceremony.
As long as the hosts or guests did not discuss or promote the striking action, Barrymore was not violating 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 required hiring non-WGA members (or no one at all) to write the show’s script.
At the time, the WGA condemned Barrymore’s decision in a statement, saying: “Drew Barrymore should not be on the air while her writers are on strike in order to reach a fair deal. In fact, shows like this cannot operate without writing, and this is work.” amazing.
The Jennifer Hudson Show and The Talk also made plans to resume work on Monday while writers and actors remain on the picket lines. Other morning talk shows returning this season include “Live With Kelly and Mark” and “Tamron Hall Show,” neither of which have writers and are not covered by the WGA.
Barrymore apologized in a now-deleted video, in which she said she had the option to replay it. “I definitely wasn’t expecting this kind of attention,” she said. “I wanted to do this because like I said, this is bigger than me, and there are other people’s jobs at stake.”
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