Drew Barrymore Announces Talk Show Return Without WGA Writers Amid Hollywood Strikes

Drew Barrymore is headed back to work. The day time talk show host took to Instagram on Sunday to address the news that The Drew Barrymore Show would be kicking off season 4 despite the ongoing SAG-AFTRA/WGA Strikes.

Barrymore previously stepped down from her role as host of the MTV Movie & TV Awards back in May due to the strikes, but has chosen to return to work, making her one of the first talk show hosts to start production again amid the union protests.

“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,” Barrymore wrote in a statement on Instagram. “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.”

Barrymore explained that her talk show “actually wrapped on April 20th, so we never had to shut down the show.”

“However, I am also 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,” she continued. “I own this choice.”

“We are in compliance with not discussing or promoting film and television that is struck of any kind,” she said. “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.”

“I hope for a resolve for everyone as soon as possible,” she concluded. “We have navigated difficult times since we first came on air. And so I take a step forward to start season 4 once again with an astute humility.”

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.”

For more on Barrymore and her previous decision to step back from hosting the MTV Movie and TV Awards, see the video below.

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