After facing widespread anger over her decision to restart her show amid a writer’s strike in the entertainment industry, Drew Barrymore will be suspending The Drew Barrymore Show indefinitely. Well, at least until the strike ends.
A week ago, America’s talk show darling was at the center of the biggest flare-up (yet) in the four-month-long, ongoing Hollywood writers’ strike. On September 10, Barrymore announced on social media that her show would be returning despite rejection from the Writers Guild of America.
That didn’t go down well.
After facing a WGA walkout demonstration and a lot of criticism online, Barrymore apologized six days later for her hurt feelings but said the show would go on regardless, clarifying that it was her decision.
“I know there’s just nothing I can do to make this right for those it’s not OK for. I fully accept that. I completely understand that,” she said in a now-deleted video.
That came across even worse.
The backlash – not only from the striking writers and guild members, but also from fans – was loud. Barrymore was charged with incommunicado behavior and disloyalty. It’s a sharp turn for Barrymore, who for about a year has been praised for being one of the kindest, most caring people on television. The Drew Barrymore we know from television is not the same person who would violate the strike.
Last Sunday, after weathering a storm of criticism, Barrymore announced that she would respect the strike and stand in solidarity with her writers.
“I have made the decision to pause the premiere of the show until the strike is over,” Barrymore wrote on Instagram. “I don’t have the words to sincerely apologize to everyone I hurt and of course to our incredible team who work on the show and made it what it is today.”
With support for unions at its highest in 58 years and the public more familiar with numbers like Disney CEO Bob Iger’s salary, Barrymore’s strike attack was never going to go down well. But the backlash was enormous, especially compared to similarly affected shows (and hosts) that returned or were set to return like The View. It got to the point where the National Book Awards gave up Barrymore as host.
Did everyone know Drew Barrymore was going to host the National Book Awards? Did you know that people feel so deeply about Drew Barrymore?
Both talk show hosts had better months.
Rosalind O’Connor/NBC via Getty Images
On the surface, the backlash against Barrymore is about the ongoing strikes in Hollywood. Equally great was the relief that most felt when she announced that she would finally respect her authors. But the strong feelings people have about Barrymore have deeper roots: They reflect people’s expectations of what it means to be a “scab” in 2023 Hollywood, and how effective Barrymore was at being that , which we believe is expected of her.
Drew Barrymore crossed the picket line and walked back
Earlier this month, CBS and Barrymore announced that the show would return on September 18th. In a now-deleted Instagram post, Barrymore initially said the decision to cross the picket lines was beyond her.
“Our show was designed for sensitive times and only works through what the real world is going through in real time,” Barrymore posted on the social media platform, explaining that she “made the decision to return to this show for the first time .”Strike for our show, which may have my name on it, but this is bigger than just me.”
It is clear that Barrymore’s somewhat confusing statement was not written by Guild authors. It seems that Barrymore wanted to say that the decision to resume filming was taken seriously and that a huge number of people working on the series would be affected by the disruption. In theory, without writers, the show would feature more improvisations and less structured segments.
Barrymore added: “I own that choice. We are committed to not discussing or promoting films and television shows that are affected in any way.”
Despite language (“compliance”) that suggested The Drew Barrymore Show was following Writers Guild of America rules, the guild pointed out that same day that the show was “a WGA-covered show , canceled show that plans to return without its writers.” The Writers Guild said that it would begin picketing the show this week (the week of September 11th), adding: “The Guild has and will continue to strike shows in production during the strike.” Any Writing on The Drew Barrymore Show violates WGA rules.”
Barrymore’s word salad statement and the WGA’s clear response led to negative reactions to Barrymore’s decision to bring her show back on the air. Prominent writers and guild members pointed out that Barrymore, a multi-generational Nepo baby and Hollywood star, could cover her staff’s expenses and show solidarity with the writers’ strike. Others suspected that Barrymore and the show’s team were trying to cover up some very obvious bruises with tricky wording. There was also talk that this was a U-turn for Barrymore, who previously stepped down as host of the MTV Movie Awards in May in solidarity with the writers.
In response to Barrymore’s decision, the National Book Foundation said it would no longer host the National Book Awards on November 15. “The National Book Awards is an evening dedicated to honoring the power of literature and the unparalleled contributions of writers to our culture,” the organization wrote in a statement. “In light of the announcement that production of The Drew Barrymore Show is resuming, the National Book Foundation has rescinded Ms. Barrymore’s invitation to host the 74th National Book Awards.”
The pickets outside the Drew Barrymore Show last week.
Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images
In the face of mounting criticism, Barrymore – with her face uncovered and her hair down, not unlike Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis in her own mea culpa video – posted an apology video on Instagram in which she explained that she was responsible for the harm she had caused , sorry but she apologizes for her decision to continue the show.
“I didn’t want to hide behind people. So I won’t do it. I’m not going to dress this up with bells and whistles, publicists and corporate rhetoric. I’m just going to stand out there and accept and take responsibility,” Barrymore said in the video. She added: “This is bigger than me. And other people’s jobs are at stake.”
That Barrymore has since deleted the apology video shows how ineffective it was in quelling the backlash. By saying that she heard people’s legitimate complaints about inequality and fair treatment of writers, and then telling people that she would push through the show anyway, Barrymore threw gasoline on the open fire. The chorus about her being a scab, not standing up for workers’ rights, and betraying the writers who work for her became even louder – so loud that it is now very difficult to find the video on the Internet.
On Sunday evening, September 17, a week after Barrymore announced that her show would begin filming, the host posted on social media that she had reconsidered and was postponing her show’s return.
“I have listened to everyone and am making the decision to pause the show’s premiere until the strike is over,” she wrote, apologizing to her team. “We were really trying to find the way forward. And I really hope for a solution for the entire industry soon.”
As of this week, it is the only message about the strike that appears on Barrymore’s Instagram and has not been deleted.
Why things are worse for Drew Barrymore
While the general public’s reaction to Barrymore’s initial decision to bring her show back was something like the digital equivalent of throwing rotten tomatoes, her show wasn’t the only show to cross the picket lines. The View continues without WGA writers, and shortly after Barrymore’s announcement, Bill Maher said with a sensitive grin that he too would call off the strike and go back to work (Maher, apparently following all of Barrymore’s moves, announced on Monday that he would instead honor the strike and postpone his show). Non-WGA talk shows like “Live with Kelly” and “Mark and Sherri” have also resumed filming.
None of these shows received the backlash or critical scrutiny that Barrymore did. To be fair, none of these shows employed Barrymore’s elaborate “live laugh graph” strategy, with which he attempted to soften and sentimentalize the decision to break the strike. They just went back to work.
This raises the question of why the movie star cleared his throat so often, and brings us to the real problem: Drew Barrymore has built a hugely successful brand for himself, and central to that brand is that she is a very good person. The key to this is her talk show and the way she speaks to her guests, many of whom are her famous acquaintances.
Over the course of her show, Barrymore has developed a matter-of-fact and extremely human way of interviewing her celebrity guests.
You can see this when she talks to Machine Gun Kelly about fears, vulnerability and mental health. It’s there as she talks to Brooke Shields about her complicated relationships with her mothers and growing up. And it happens again in Barrymore’s interview with Melanie Lynskey and her husband Jason Ritter, who discussed his alcoholism and the impact it had on their relationship.
Drew Barrymore’s daytime television show has been compared (favorably) to therapy.
Noam Galai/Getty Images for SiriusXM
What makes Barrymore so good in these moments is not only that she knows how to make her guests feel comfortable, convey genuine empathy, and guide conversations gracefully, but also that Barrymore isn’t afraid to do so either , to admit their own vulnerability – if it is substance abuse or their difficult childhood. She implicitly asks us to see her as a person who works every day to become better.
With every episode you tune in, you get the feeling that this talk show is part of Drew’s evolution, that she enjoys doing it and that it brings her great joy.
Because Barrymore’s talk show has shown so well how good Barrymore is, crossing a picket line is harder to come to terms with. Can’t this person who shows radical empathy at every moment of her life do the same for writers who are woefully underpaid and undervalued? Something cannot be calculated. Barrymore’s image could be why we didn’t get a full behind-the-scenes picture.
What has been left unsaid in the back and forth about the show is that Barrymore is contractually obligated to produce episodes of her show. That’s the nature of syndicated television.
“Hosts like Barrymore are under contract with major media production companies to fulfill their hosting duties, and like any regular job, they must show up for work at some point,” Variety reported, explaining that local stations pay licensing fees to broadcast The Drew Barrymore Show and daytime talk shows like it. “Syndicated talk shows typically have to deliver new episodes to their network partners for 35 to 40 weeks. If they don’t, they could lose their show.”
Therein lies the problem for Drew Barrymore and some of the other daytime hosts before her: There is a disconnect between the image of Drew Barrymore as a good person and the business of making “The Drew Barrymore Show.”
People want to support a good person, especially if he is famous. The success of Barrymore’s show is obvious. However, when it comes to a celebrity’s supposed goodness (see: DeGeneres, Ellen), it sets up a difficult expectation – one that often turns out to be a lie. Good business decisions and good moral decisions are rarely the same thing.
However, it seems that Barrymore has found a way out of this seemingly hopeless situation.
Following Barrymore’s apology and her promise to stand in solidarity with her authors, critics are now praising Barrymore for recognizing her mistake and doing the right thing. She is praised for apologizing and leading by example. If you can’t be good all the time, I guess the next best thing you can do is be compassionate and be Drew Barrymore.
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