Drew Barrymore’s Show Violates Strike Guidelines, Per WGA
By Movieguide® Contributor
After Drew Barrymore announced that her talk show would return, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) clarified that she is breaking guidelines and those working on the show are violating the strike.
“THE DREW BARRYMORE SHOW’s WGA writers, fans, and our union allies held the picket line for 8+ hours outside of CBS. The Guild has, and will continue, to picket shows that are in production during the strike. Any writing on THE DREW BARRYMORE SHOW is in violation of WGA strike rules,” the union said on Monday.
Barrymore announced previously that she is returning to her show but would honor the ongoing strikes by avoiding work covered by the strikes.
MSN reported, ”Whether WGA-covered shows returning without writers violates strike rules is the subject of debate—some critics have called the return of these shows a ‘moral violation’ of the strikes and believe production of these shows cannot occur without anybody completing writing work, which would be forbidden by the strike rules.”
Beyond violating strike rules, the actress’ decision to return to production on the show has been unpopular with her fans. She announced her show’s return on Instagram and has since been flooded with comments revealing fans’ disappointment with her decision.
“As a fan of your work, I would love for you to reconsider this choice. It is explicitly against the strike, and ignoring the request of the union. This is not just disappointing, it’s a huge statement to the generation of creatives younger than you that your feelings are more important than our industry’s future,” one comment said.
“@drewbarrymore Drew, we love you but if the WGA is planning to picket at your show, it’s obviously not what they consider supporting them. The union itself is saying ‘stand with us to make workers stronger’ and you’re telling them they’re not important,” said another comment.
Movieguide® previously reported:
Drew Barrymore announced that her daytime talk show, THE DREW BARRYMORE SHOW, will return for season 4 despite the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.
Earlier this year, Barrymore stepped away from hosting the MTV Movie and TV Awards to support the strikes.
“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 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.”
