The Drew Barrymore Show (TV Program)

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    Drew Barrymore Pauses Show’s Return Until End of Strike

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    Taping began on her talk show last week, but at the 11th hour Barrymore changed course, and at least two other daytime programs followed.After an onslaught of criticism over her decision to return her show to the air while Hollywood is on strike, Drew Barrymore reversed herself on Sunday and at least two other shows did the same.Barrymore announced her change of course in an Instagram post, just a day before her talk show was to begin broadcasting. Taping resumed last Monday for the daytime program.After the announcement, “The Jennifer Hudson Show,” which is produced by Warner Bros., and the CBS show “The Talk,” rolled back previously announced plans to start broadcasting new episodes on Monday. CBS said in a statement on Sunday regarding “The Talk,” that it would pause its season premiere and “evaluate plans for a new launch date.”The return of production for Barrymore’s show attracted picketers from the striking writers’ and actors’ unions, and on Friday, she defended her decision in an emotional Instagram video, saying, “This is bigger than me.”CBS Media Ventures, which produces “The Drew Barrymore Show,” echoed her resolution at that point, saying more than 150 jobs would be affected. The company noted that she would be using a fully ad-libbed format, without anyone replacing the production’s three striking writers.But on Friday night, she deleted the video, and on Sunday morning released a statement changing course. The syndicated program was to begin airing new episodes on Monday.“I have listened to everyone, and I am making the decision to pause the show’s premiere until the strike is over,” the statement said. “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. We really tried to find our way forward. And I truly hope for a resolution for the entire industry very soon.”In a statement on Sunday, CBS Media said it supported her latest decision and understood “how complex and difficult this process has been for her.”Although Barrymore was not the only daytime talk show host to announce a return during the strikes, she has received the most criticism, perhaps in part because in May she decided to bow out of hosting the MTV Movie and TV Awards in solidarity with Writers Guild of America members.The daytime juggernaut “The View,” for example, has been airing new episodes filmed without its unionized writers.Bill Maher announced last week that his weekly show on HBO would be returning, defending his decision in a social media post, saying, “I’m not prepared to lose an entire year and see so many below-the-line people suffer so much.”Members of the Writers Guild have been on strike since May, and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists began its strike in July.Barrymore herself is a member of SAG-AFTRA, but as a host she is covered by a separate agreement called the Network Code, making it technically permissible for her to present the show during the strike.Late-night shows have the same option, but thus far, many network hosts have decided not to take it. Instead, five of the big-name hosts — Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers and John Oliver — have started a podcast together, with proceeds going toward supporting their staffs.Returning amid the strikes may look even less appealing to other hosts after Barrymore’s ordeal. A day after her show resumed production, the National Book Foundation dropped her as the host of the National Books Awards.Her social media pages were filled with people urging her to walk back her decision to resume production, advice she heeded in less than a week. More

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      Drew Barrymore Defends Show Return Decision in Emotional Video

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      Barrymore responded to continuing criticism after her decision to bring back her talk show amid the Hollywood writers’ strike.Drew Barrymore is not the only talk show host returning to air amid ongoing strikes by Hollywood writers and actors, but in the span of a week she has become perhaps the most high-profile target for criticism over the decision.On Friday, she doubled down, posting an emotional video on Instagram in which she apologized to striking writers, some of whom have picketed outside the studio where “The Drew Barrymore Show” resumed filming in New York City this week, and signaled that she had no intention of a reversal, at least for now.“My decision to go back to the show — I didn’t want to hide behind people, so I won’t,” Barrymore said in the video. “And I won’t polish this with bells and whistles and publicists and corporate rhetoric. I’ll just stand out there and accept and be responsible.”To begin filming the fourth season of her show amid the strike by the Writers Guild of America, the program has returned to production without its three unionized writers, and with a promise that the new episodes — the first of which is set to air on Monday — will not include written material that violates the rules of the strike. Other daytime talk shows with unionized writers on staff, including the “The View,” which began airing new episodes earlier this month, have taken a similar approach. “The Jennifer Hudson Show” and “The Talk” are among the shows that are also planning returns.A statement on Friday from CBS Media Ventures, which produces “The Drew Barrymore Show,” noted that although Barrymore is a member of SAG-AFTRA, the actors’ union that is also on strike, she works with the talk show under a separate agreement called the Network Code, which makes it permissible for her to host the show amid the labor unrest. The company said that the show considered its staff and crew of more than 150 people when making the decision to resume production, and that the show will be “completely unscripted” until the end of the strike.“I wanted to do this because, as I said, this is bigger than me,” Barrymore said in her video, “and there are other people’s jobs on the line. And since launching live in a pandemic, I just wanted to make a show that was there for people in sensitive times.”She went on: “I weighed the scales and I thought, if we could go on during a global pandemic, and everything that the world has experienced through 2020, why would this sideline us?”Some of the criticism of Barrymore referenced her earlier decision to drop out as host of the MTV Movie and TV Awards in May, expressing solidarity with the striking writers.The actress’s apologetic, almost anguished explanation stood in contrast to that of Bill Maher, who announced this week that his weekly HBO show would return to the air, stating plainly, “It has been five months, and it is time to bring people back to work.”As backlash to Barrymore’s decision grew in recent days, the National Book Foundation dropped the actress as the host of its National Book Awards ceremony in November, after several high-profile writers were among the critics of her decision to return to air.“I want to just put one foot in front of the other,” Barrymore said in the video on Friday, “and make a show that’s there for people regardless of anything else that’s happening in the world.” More

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      Drew Barrymore Dropped as National Book Awards Host After Strike Backlash

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      The actor and TV host’s decision to return her talk show to the air, bypassing striking writers, made her a magnet for criticism, online and off.Drew Barrymore has been dropped as the host of the National Book Awards, the foundation that presents the prizes said Tuesday, after the actress received a barrage of criticism for deciding to bring back her daytime talk show despite the strike by television writers.The National Book Foundation, which presents the awards each year, said in a statement that its decision was meant to “ensure that the focus of the awards remains on celebrating writers and books.”“The National Book Awards is an evening dedicated to celebrating the power of literature, and the incomparable contributions of writers to our culture,” the statement said. “In light of the announcement that ‘The Drew Barrymore Show’ will resume production, the National Book Foundation has rescinded Ms. Barrymore’s invitation to host the 74th National Book Awards Ceremony.”On Monday, unionized writers from the Writers Guild of America, as well as striking actors, picketed outside the CBS studios in New York City where “The Drew Barrymore Show” was resuming filming for the first time since April — without the show’s three unionized writers.The network said that the show would be returning on Sept. 18 without written material that is “covered by the W.G.A. strike,” a similar approach to that taken by “The View,” which began airing episodes from its new season this month, circumventing union writers.Barrymore, who had stepped down as the host of the MTV Movie and TV Awards in May in solidarity with the striking Hollywood writers, was greeted by a wave of critical backlash online after the decision to go back on air. She defended the show’s return on Instagram, saying in a post, “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.”Barrymore’s critics included many high-profile writers, and Colson Whitehead, an author who won the National Book Award in 2016, gestured to the potential problem the foundation faced in having the actress as host after her decision.Representatives for Barrymore and her show did not immediately respond to requests for comment.The foundation’s statement concluded: “We are grateful to Ms. Barrymore and her team for their understanding in this situation.”The National Book Awards, one of the most prestigious literary awards in the United States, has often brought in prominent cultural figures and celebrities to host, in an effort to broaden its profile and to highlight the wide ranging cultural impact of books. Recent hosts include the author and TV host Padma Lakshmi, the author and comedian Phoebe Robinson, and actors like LeVar Burton, Nick Offerman and Cynthia Nixon.When the National Book Foundation announced this summer that Barrymore would host the awards, they praised her commitment to “the enduring belief that books have the power to change readers’ lives.” In her 2015 memoir, “Wildflower,” Barrymore credited books with restoring her sense of self after her tumultuous childhood and coming of age in the spotlight, and described how she tore through works by Jane Austen, Tolstoy and Joan Didion.This year’s ceremony is scheduled to take place at Cipriani Wall Street in Manhattan on Nov. 15, which creates a tight timeline that is likely to leave the foundation scrambling to find another high-profile host. More

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      Drew Barrymore’s Show Is Picketed as It Resumes Amid Writers’ Strike

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      The star, who dropped out of an MTV awards show in May to demonstrate solidarity with striking writers, plans to bring her daytime talk show back without its unionized writers.When Drew Barrymore announced in May that she was stepping down as host of the MTV Movie & TV Awards to show solidarity with striking Hollywood writers, she received an outpouring of praise from fans and viewers who supported her stance.But the news that she would be bringing her daytime talk show back without its unionized writers was met with a very different response: A group of picketers demonstrated on Monday outside the CBS studios in Manhattan, where the show was taping the first episode of its fourth season, which is scheduled to be broadcast next week. One man held a sign that said, “Drew the right thing.”The network said “The Drew Barrymore Show,” a sunny, interview-oriented program that debuted in 2020, was returning without written material that is “covered by the W.G.A. strike” — similar to the approach taken by some other talk shows during the dual strikes by writers and actors that have shut down much of Hollywood. “The View,” the daytime juggernaut, began airing episodes from its new season this month.On Monday afternoon, as “The Drew Barrymore Show” prepared to tape its first episode since April, a couple of dozen picketers from both the Writers Guild of America and the union that represents actors, SAG-AFTRA, marched outside CBS Broadcast Center on West 57th Street, as audience members lined up along the sidewalk for the day’s taping.Barrymore, the actress turned host, defended the show’s decision to return in an Instagram post on Sunday, saying that the show, which begins airing new episodes on Sept. 18, would be “in compliance with not discussing or promoting film and television that is struck of any kind.”“I own this choice,” she said in the post, adding: “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.”The Writers Guild of America wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that the show was covered by its union and that “any writing on ‘The Drew Barrymore Show’ is in violation of WGA strike rules.”Other daytime television programs, including ABC’s “Tamron Hall” and “Live With Kelly and Mark” have aired new programming during the writers’ strike, which has lasted more than four months.Cristina Kinon, a co-head writer of “The Drew Barrymore Show” who carried a sign at the picket that said “Drew’s WGA crew,” said she was one of three striking union writers at the show, and that they learned the show would be returning when production put out a call for audience members.“I’m disappointed,” said Kinon, who has been with the show since its pilot. “I wish that everyone in the industry could stand in solidarity with the unions. But everyone has to make their own personal decision.”After two people wrote in social media posts that they had been removed from the audience at Monday’s taping for wearing Writers Guild pins that they had been given outside the studio, the show said in a statement that they had been not permitted to attend because of “heightened security concerns.” The show said it would offer them new tickets. Late-night shows, which are more reliant on writers, are still dark. During the last strike, which started in 2007, the hosts came back gradually after about two months while their writers continued to strike. None have opted to do so yet.Instead, five of the hosts — including Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers and John Oliver — recently started a podcast, called “Strike Force Five,” with the proceeds going toward support for their shows’ staffs.Part of the backlash centers on Barrymore’s decision early on in the strike to bow out as host of the MTV Movie & TV Awards. At the time, Kinon said, the talk show had already gone on its summer hiatus, but she had been involved with writing Barrymore’s material for the awards show until the host decided to drop out.In her Instagram post, Barrymore said she had made the decision to step down from MTV hosting duties because the show “had a direct conflict with what the strike was dealing with which was studios, streamers, film, and television.”“I did what I thought was the appropriate thing at the time to stand in solidarity with the writers,” Barrymore said in the post. She added, “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.” More