Drew Barrymore is faced with more pressure to halt production of the CBS Talk Show after her now-deleted apology video aimed at the WGA, backfired! The Charlie’s Angels star has irked supporters & members of the union currently participating in the Writers Strike in a 4-minute video expressing her extreme regret. However, the daytime host also echoed her commitment to film The Drew Barrymore Show so the internet, as expected, has pushed back by branding her a scab.
The CBS Talk Show will not stop filming its episodes as Drew Barrymore reiterates it remains compliant with the strike rules. A representative for the studio revealed the daytime program will not be hiring a writer to script the show calling it a “completely unscripted” program. A taping session earlier this week was embroiled in controversy after audience members were removed for wearing WGA support pins.
UPDATE (Sept 17, 2023): Drew Barrymore announces decision to halt her talk show’s premiere until the strike resolves. The actress shared a statement on Instagram apologizing for her actions.
Drew appears to argue the reasoning behind the daytime show’s return by comparing it to the show’s debut during the global pandemic in September 2020. “This is bigger than me, there are other people’s jobs on the line,” she says in the emotional video while also acknowledging the wave of negativity online. Although she takes responsibility for her actions, she confirms, “I wanna just put one foot in front of the other and make a show that’s there for people regardless of anything else that’s happening in the world.”
While Barrymore presented the video as a non-PR-driven decision – it was still deleted from her Instagram. Readers can check it out below.
Writers don’t need an apology, @DrewBarrymore. We need you to stop doing a show that cannot be made without scab writing.
When you cause harm, apologies are meaningless until you stop causing harm. Just #StopScabbingDrew pic.twitter.com/4EIGt5iEmN
— David Slack (@slack2thefuture) September 15, 2023
Drew Barrymore would like you to know that undermining union solidarity at the most crucial moment in Hollywood labor history makes her the victim. This has been, like, a super tough week for her. https://t.co/wtDVor9rKs
— Bradley Whitford (@BradleyWhitford) September 15, 2023
Drew Barrymore is a multigenerational nepo baby who was making money in movies before Quinta Brunson was even BORN and yet, Quinta has the compassion and good sense to take care of the people who helped make her show successful WITHOUT being a scab. Interesting! https://t.co/qN6sLl3TL4
— Meech (@MediumSizeMeech) September 15, 2023
.@DrewBarrymore You have undermined the integrity of the unions, full stop. I refuse to believe you didn’t see this coming. All you have accomplished is to EXTEND the strike as you have now handed the AMPTP a glimmer of hope that the damn is breaking. Thankfully, it is not. https://t.co/7tbjeDowTP
— Anson Mount 🖖 (@ansonmount) September 16, 2023
I am a WGA writer who has written scripts for many WGA shows that are classified as “unscripted”. “Unscripted” is a gross misnomer. It does not mean “improvised”, it means “people being themselves not a fictional character”. That’s truly it. 1/2https://t.co/NT7Dmdkk7X
— Eliza Skinner #wgastrong (@elizaskinner) September 16, 2023
Fact:
Drew Barrymore is a scab.
Bill Maher is a scab.Who agrees?
— Angela Belcamino (@AngelaBelcamino) September 16, 2023
Drew says there is nothing she can do to make things right, except apologize and take accountability for her actions. Wrong. The ONLY ONLY ONLY thing she needs to do is stop scabbing. #wgastrike #wgastrong #stopscabbingdrew https://t.co/Fx0S7VjXTI
— Bonnie Datt (@BonnieDatt) September 16, 2023
Oh my god Drew Barrymore has the same "thrift store clothes, no makeup, least wealthy part of your house as the backdrop" PR team as Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis 💀 https://t.co/VsVEb87sMY
— Chris OIIey (@chrisoIIey) September 15, 2023
drew barrymore correlating a global pandemic to greedy multibillion-dollar corporations not paying their workers as the reason why she’s resuming her talk show is some real stupid shitpic.twitter.com/pnA5jVnZNL
— raz (@arehzed) September 16, 2023
“I am doing something that upset people. While continuing to do that thing, I will cry publicly about how nothing I do can make it right.” Um… maybe you can #StopScabbingDrew
— Nunzio DeFilippis (@ndefilippis) September 16, 2023
Wow! With her family legacy she's gonna cross a picket line and be a frigging scab? The phony tears, throat clearing and no makeup look like she's fighting to make ends meet? Shove it! #stopscabbingdrew https://t.co/QwqPORGDvW
— Steve Tannen (@SportsTalk953) September 15, 2023
From Hollywood stars like The West Wing‘s Bradley Whitford to Oppenheimer‘s David Krumholtz -all have advised against Barrymore’s move. Some like writer David Slack have gone as far as starting the #StopScabbingDrew to counter her statement, “Writers don’t need an apology”. Other prominent faces in Hollywood like Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Doctor Strange 2 star Anson Mount had a harsher response to her decision stating it “undermined the integrity of the unions”
The Writers Union members and council have also called out other daytime programs like The Jennifer Hudon Show for returning. Meanwhile, there seems to be no worry over the Late-night hosts following the same direction rather they show their support for the cause through the United Strike Force Five podcast.
While the WGA remains firm on picketing any union-covered talk show engaging in struck work – some of the hosts have surprisingly not backed down from choosing to film their program to go on air amid the double strike. Bill Maher was recently called out a scab and it appears Jennifer Hudson and the most controversial of them all, Drew Barrymore are all determined to produce.
On the bright side, the Writers Strike has seen some progress since the AMPTP has agreed to return to the negotiating table and is in the process of schedule to meet in the next week.
Per the rules, Bill Maher and Drew Barrymore need to be kicked out of their respective unions. I can’t write on either show without losing my union membership. They shouldn’t be exempt from consequences just because they’re famous.
— LISA CURRY (show dates on IG Olympianlisacurry) (@lisa_curry) September 15, 2023
Drew Scabbymore
— SHARKEY (@sharkeysharks) September 15, 2023
OUCH. E.T. please phone @DrewBarrymore and tell her to "Beeeeeee… gooood" and #StopScabbingDrew https://t.co/eEMVgi8HZC
— Judd Taylor (@JuddTaylor) September 16, 2023
Hey Drew. Found out at a friend's memorial that said friend had snuck out of state during '08 WGA strike and written a feature for a struck company. Made me sick. Makes me sick now. Disgusted. My friend was a scab. This stuff goes deep and it never goes away. #StopScabbingDrew https://t.co/LiKzuMXPuI
— Cynthia Carle (@cynthiacarle) September 16, 2023
Your name may be Drew Barrymore, but you are nothing more than a selfish dusty dirty rat who scabbed because your white saviour complex compelled you to cross the picket line and betray the working class during a historic Labour revolution. https://t.co/X3JeSHY842
— Billie (@venusdeathtrapp) September 16, 2023
@DrewBarrymore keeping your show on during a pandemic = 🍎. Airing your show during a double strike by your union #SAGAFTRA and the #WGA = 🍊. Not the same at all!!! If you want to get it right stop production and hit the picket lines with us. #StopScabbingDrew https://t.co/pzqmOsDZsU
— Camille Tucker (@camilleetucker) September 16, 2023
What is the point of apologizing if you're not going to change the behavior you're apologizing for? We've gotten way too accepting of the idea that "owning it" is enough. Yes this is a subtweet of Drew Barrymore but it definitely applies more broadly.
— Louis Peitzman (@LouisPeitzman) September 15, 2023
"Drew! No one is holding a gun to your head! The show is called The Drew Barrymore show! It's your show, you're the one who made the decision to bring it back!" – Caroline Kwan https://t.co/AsY3p5RyUC pic.twitter.com/qpP0RNsZzq
— XOXO 🐬 (@Joshipgirl) September 16, 2023
An air date has not been announced for the Drew Barrymore Show yet.
