Drew Barrymore announced on Sunday her decision to halt the upcoming season premiere of her namesake daytime talk series, “The Drew Barrymore Show,” a reversal that answered to mounting backlash over Barrymore’s initial plans to return to the show despite the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.
“I have listened to everyone, and I am making the decision to pause the show’s premiere until the strike is over,” Barrymore said in an Instagram post shared on Sunday morning.
“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,” she continued. “We really tried to find our way forward. And I truly hope for a resolution for the entire industry very soon.”
Barrymore drew criticism from members of the writers and actors guilds last week, when she initially announced her decision to move ahead with the talk show’s scheduled fourth season premiere date on Sept. 18. She said at the time that her talk show would comply with the rules of the strike.
Getty Images
“I own this choice,” Barrymore wrote on Instagram on Sunday, Sept. 10. “We are in compliance with not discussing or promoting film and television that is struck of any kind.” That post has now been removed from the social media site.
In the wake of Barrymore at first announcing she would return to the series as planned, members of WGA and SAG-AFTRA picketed outside of the studio where filming takes place for “The Drew Barrymore Show,” at the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City. Meanwhile, the National Book Foundation rescinded Barrymore’s invitation to host the 74th annual National Book Awards ceremony.
The writer’s guild tweeted Sunday that “any writing” on Barrymore’s show “violates WGA strike rules.”
“The Drew Barrymore Show is a WGA-covered, struck show that is planning to return without its writers,” the tweet read. “The Guild has and will continue to, picket-struck shows that are in production during the strike.”
A spokesperson for CBS Media Ventures said in a statement, “The Drew Barrymore Show will not be performing any writing work covered by the WGA strike.”
Members of the Writer’s Guild of America went on strike in May amid ongoing negotiations for a new contract that meets their demands for better compensation, increased residuals for streaming content and regulations regarding the use of artificial intelligence. SAG-AFTRA, the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, joined the strike in July.
Paramount+ and CBS News and Stations are part of Paramount Global, one of the companies affected by the strike. Some CBS News staff are WGA and SAG-AFTRA members but work under different contracts than the writers and actors who are on strike.
—Gina Martinez and S. Dev contributed reporting.
