Protesters slammed Drew Barrymore for restarting her daytime talkshow without its unionized writers amid the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike.
Chanting slogans such as “shut it down”, at least a dozen demonstrators picketed in front of CBS Studios in New York on Monday to protest against Barrymore’s decision to resume production of her talkshow’s fourth season.
Writers of Barrymore’s own show joined the picketing, holding signs that read “Drew’s WGA Crew”.
In an Instagram post on Monday, Barrymore announced that she was choosing to restart her show, noting that the talkshow would not promote “film and television that is struck of any kind”.
“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 said.
But the WGA condemned the restart of production as a “violation” of union rules, as the talkshow was “a WGA-covered, struck show”.
“The Guild has, and will continue to, picket struck shows that are in production during the strike,” WGA East wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
Two audience members also said on social media they were kicked out of Monday’s taping for wearing WGA pins.
In a viral tweet, an audience member, Dominic Turiczek, said that he and a guest were “kicked out” and “verbally assaulted” by crew members on Barrymore’s show for wearing a pin reading “Writers Guild On Strike”.
“It’s clear they don’t support #WGAStrong, writers or fans! #DrewTheRightThing So we took shirts and joined. Fuck that,” wrote Turiczek on X.
A spokesperson for the Barrymore show told the Hollywood Reporter that the incident occurred due to “heightened security concerns” and that the audience members would be offered additional tickets.
On Tuesday, the National Book Foundation announced that it would rescind Barrymore’s invitation to host the National Book Awards in response to the decision to restart the talkshow.
“The National Book Awards is an evening dedicated to celebrating the power of literature and the incomparable contributions of writers to our culture,” the foundation said in a statement. “Our commitment is to ensure that the focus of the awards remains on celebrating writers and books.”
An update on the host of the 2023 National Book Awards. pic.twitter.com/aa5aLh0FIU
— National Book Foundation (@nationalbook) September 12, 2023
Other talkshows have also announced that they will resume production despite dual strikes of WGA and the Sag-Aftra unions.
CBS’s show The Talk, as well as the Jennifer Hudson Show and Sherri – hosted by Sherri Shepherd – will also be returning to production, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Barrymore, who has hosted the Drew Barrymore Show since its debut in 2020, received widespread praise in May after dropping out as host of the MTV Movie & TV Awards in solidarity with striking writers.
But her latest decision to resume production has been met with outrage online.
“Writers picketing their own show – wild! Hope Drew comes to her senses and does the right thing,” wrote one user on X.
Another person wrote that Barrymore’s decision was “so disappointing”.
