Protesters have gathered outside CBS Studios where Drew Barrymore’s talk show has controversially restarted amid the WGA writers’ and SAG-AFTRA actors’ strikes.
Drew sensationally crossed the picket line to start up her show again as writers battle for better contracts and fight to avoid being replaced by artificial intelligence.
Outside in Hell’s Kitchen, protesters held strike signs and chanted: “When I say contracts, you say now!” and “When I say fair, you say contract!”
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Inside the studio, audience members were being thrown out of the building for wearing Writers Guild pins.
The Hollywood Reporter claims audience had signed up for free tickets to see the taping, but were asked to leave after staff members spotted them wearing the pins – which had been handed to them by picketers outside.
(Image: The Drew Barrymore Show)
Now Drew is being blasted as a “gross scab” by furious fans online after issuing a statement of her own.
Writing on September 10, she explained: “I made a choice to walk away from the MTV 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.
“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…
“And to be clear, our talk show actually wrapped on April 20th so we never had to shut down the show. However, I am also making the choice to come back for the first time in this strike for our show, that may have my name on it but this is bigger than just me.
(Image: Getty Images for The Drew Barrymore Show)
She added: “I own this choice. 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 want to be there to provide what writers do so well, which is a way to bring us together or help us make sense of the human experience.
“I hope for a resolve for everyone as soon as possible. We have navigated difficult times since we first came on air. And so I take a step forward to start season four once again with an astute humility.”
But fans have been left fuming regardless, with one tweeting: “Drew Barrymore really threw her legacy in the trash by being a union busting scab…
(Image: CBS)
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“The way Hollywood elites are showing out when the writers and staff need the most public support is really something to behold.”
Someone else penned: “Gross, Drew Barrymore. Just gross.”
“Soooo who is writing her opening monologue and literally everything else on this show when it starts up again? Scab writers? Urghhh gross Drew Barrymore. Gross!”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
