Drew Barrymore’s Talk Show Is Returning Without WGA Writers

Drew Barrymore is heading back to work despite the ongoing SAG AFTRA/WGA strikes, but not without backlash. The daytime talk show host took to Instagram on Sunday (September 10) to address the news that The Drew Barrymore Show would be kicking off season 4. Barrymore, 48, previously stepped down from hosting the MTV Movie & TV Awards back in May due to the strikes but has now chosen to come back to work, making her one of the first talk show hosts to start production again amid the union protests.

In her Instagram statement, Drew wrote: "I made a choice to walk away from the MTV, film and television 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." She further said her talk show "actually wrapped on April 20th, so we never had to shut down the show." With that statement, she said she is "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. I own this choice."

"We are in compliance with not discussing or promoting film and television that is struck of any kind," she alleged. "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." The producer and author concluded her statement by issuing hope for a resolution for everyone as soon as possible.

In response to the news, WGA East announced plans to organize a protest outside the CBS Broadcast Center in New York, where The Drew Barrymore Show is taped. "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," the WGA wrote on Twitter on Sunday. "Any writing on The Drew Barrymore Show is in violation of WGA strike rules."

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