WGA slams Drew Barrymore for talk show return amid strike

Originally appeared on E! Online

The "Drew Barrymore Show" is set to go on.

Four months after the Writers Guild of America officially went on strike following failed negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), and two months after SAG-AFTRA joined them on the picket line, Drew Barrymore confirmed her eponymous daytime talk show will return for season four Sept. 18.

In a statement shared to social media Sept. 10, the TV show host referenced her decision to step down as host of the 2023 MTV Movie & TV Awards in May, noting that her show will be in "compliance with not discussing or promoting film and television that is struck of any kind."

"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," she wrote in a message posted to 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."

All the TV Shows Impacted By the WGA & SAG-AFTRA Strikes 2023

She added, "And to be clear, our 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."

It's a choice that Barrymore noted she owns.

"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," she wrote. "I hope for a resolve for everyone as soon as possible. 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."

However, the WGA spoke out against the decision, stating that the actress' 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," their Sept. 10 statement shared to X, formerly known as Twitter, read. "Any writing on ‘The Drew Barrymore Show' is in violation of WGA strike rules."

A spokesperson also told The Hollywood Reporter that union members will picket outside of the show's studios in New York City on Sept. 11 and 12.

The fourth season of the "Drew Barrymore Show" is set to premiere on Sept. 18.