Drew Barrymore Being Canceled For Her Talk Show
Despite the ongoing strikes performed by the WGA and SAG-AFTRA, in accordance with a number of other film industry professionals joining in solidarity, The Drew Barrymore Show has begun to film its latest season, per a report in Entertainment Weekly. The daytime talk show, which is fully within the WGA purview, has attempted to film new episodes without writers in order to circumvent the strike, garnering negative attention from union representatives and becoming a site for picketers to express their grievances.
Drew Barrymore has started filming a new season of her talk show without using WGA writers to get around the strike.
The third season of The Drew Barrymore Show wrapped filming back in April, just weeks before the May 1 deadline for negotiations between the WGA and AMPTP caused writers across the country to go on strike for the first time since 2008. After continually failing to return to the negotiating table to reach a fair deal with their writers, the AMPTP faced further backlash in July when the actors’ guild joined the strike seeking fairer treatment and better pay from the major studios.
Since then, the internet has become inundated with horror stories regarding the AMPTP’s frequent abuse of power and mistreatment of creative talent across all sectors of the filmmaking process.
This should all come as no surprise to Drew Barrymore, who joined the SAG-AFTRA union herself at the age of five, and has frequently spoken up about her own mistreatment and difficulty navigating the industry throughout her career. Unfortunately, this didn’t stop Barrymore or her team from barreling on with the production of her show’s upcoming fourth season with no writers attached.
While some have taken to social media to refer to the team behind the show as scabs, the specific language regarding contracts at play on the Network Television Code do allow Barrymore to continue shooting, though it is considered a massive social faux pas.
This news also seems to come as a surprise, considering Drew Barrymore was a loud and vocal proponent for striking writers back in May when the strike first began….
This news also seems to come as a surprise, considering Drew Barrymore was a loud and vocal proponent for striking writers back in May when the strike first began, even going so far as to step down from her appointment to host the MTV Movie Awards in solidarity.
Some have pointed out that the shifting politics of the Hollywood landscape are often more complicated than they may initially seem, suggesting Barrymore may have chosen to continue production on her show in order to ensure the continued pay and benefits of her other employees.
The Drew Barrymore Show is now being picketed by writers protesting the star’s choice to restart production.
Other television personalities such as Seth Meyers, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, and Jon Oliver have taken to other means to ensure their workers are paid during the work stoppage by forming a podcast called Strike Force Five. Unlike The Drew Barrymore Show, Strike Force Five was created with the sole benefit of raising money and awareness for striking writers and their ongoing cause.
For now, The Drew Barrymore Show appears to be continuing amid the ongoing picketing, even going so far as to kick those who wear WGA buttons out of the live studio audience. Of course, there’s still time for production to come to their senses and shut down before it’s too late.
