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Drew Barrymore explains why she made the controversial decision to put her talk show back into production amid the ongoing Writers Guild strike, telling critics in a new video that there is “nothing I can do or say right now ” to resume production without her picket line. writers “OK.”
In a video statement posted to her Instagram on Friday (below), Barrymore reiterated CBS Media Ventures’ previous claim that The Drew Barrymore Show will return in “compliance” with the WGA strike rules. That’s despite continued backlash from union members and the union itself who protested outside the CBS Broadcast Center in New York when filming resumed this week.
“I certainly didn’t expect this kind of attention,” says the actress, producer and talk show host about her decision. “We’re not going to break the rules, and we’re going to stick to them. I wanted to do this because, like I said, this is bigger than me, and other people’s jobs are at stake.”
The actress and host denied that there was a “PR” machine behind the choice to resume the show without the WGA writers. Her video comes a day after the WGA and AMPTP publicly stated they would schedule a meeting next week. (The studios have not returned to negotiations with SAG-AFTRA, which is also on strike under a contract other than Barrymore’s talk show.)
“I don’t know exactly what to say because sometimes when things are so difficult, it’s hard to make decisions from that place. All I can say is that I wanted to accept responsibility, and now there is no PR machine behind it. My decision to return to the show: I didn’t want to hide behind people,” she said. “I’m not going to polish this with bells and whistles, publicists and corporate rhetoric. I’m just going to stand there, accept it and be responsible.”
Barrymore noted that the reason for the return was based in part on her and the show’s experiences during the pandemic.
“Since launching live in a pandemic, I just wanted to make a show that was there for people in sensitive times, and I weighed the scales and thought, can we continue during a global pandemic, and everything the world has been through in 2020 ? , why would this sideline us?” she noted. “So I just want to put one foot in front of the other and make a show that’s there for people no matter what else is going on in the world, because then I think we all need something that wants to be there very realistic in very realistic times.”
More to come…