Drew Barrymore Reverses Decision to Resume Talk Show Amid Strikes

Drew Barrymore has announced that her daytime talk show will not resume taping after all. In an apology posted to Instagram, the actor-turned-host expressed regret over the decision to bring the show back amidst the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, and shared her hopes for a resolution to be reached for “the entire industry very soon.”

“I have listened to everyone, and I am making the decision to pause the show’s premiere until the strike is over,” she wrote in the statement, posted on Sunday, September 17th. “I have no words to express my deepest apologies to anyone I have hurt and, of course, to our incredible team who works on the show and has made it what it is today. We really tried to find our way forward. And I truly hope for a resolution for the entire industry very soon.”

Barrymore first indicated on Monday, September 11th, that her show, The Drew Barrymore Show, would return for its fourth season sans writers. Though it was clarified that the show would still be in compliance — meaning that it would utilize no writing work covered by the WGA strike, and that any actors who appeared as guests would be prohibited from discussing or promoting struck projects — the decision was still quite controversial, and drew a large amount of criticism, including from the WGA itself.

Barrymore initially responded by defending the decision, posting a since-deleted video in which she claimed “this is bigger than me,” and compared the ongoing strikes to the 2020 pandemic. “If we could go on during a global pandemic, and everything that the world experienced through 2020, why would this sideline us?” she said.

Now, though, she has changed her tune, and the show’s return has been postponed until the strikes reach a resolution. In doing this, she’s joining the ranks of other prominent talk show hosts — like Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, and more — who have withheld from producing their shows in solidarity with the writers and actors.

Read our explainers about the WGA strike and SAG-AFTRA strike, and check out Barrymore’s full statement below.