Drew Barrymore‘s decision to cross her own writers’ picket line to continue filming her daytime talk show during the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike has resulted in the National Book Awards dropping her as a host. Oh sweetie, what are you doing?!
The US’ National Book Foundation released a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Wednesday morning where it announced it had rescinded its invitation to Drew Barrymore, who it said would no longer be the event’s host.
“The National Book Awards is an evening dedicated to celebrating the power of literature, and the incomparable contributions of writers to our culture,” the statement read.
“In light of the announcement that The Drew Barrymore Show will resume production, the National Book Foundation has rescinded Ms. Barrymore’s invitation to host the 74th National Book Awards Ceremony.
“Our commitment is to ensure that the focus of the Awards remains on celebrating writers and books, and we are grateful to Ms. Barrymore and her team for their understanding in this situation.”
The statement is just the latest in backlash Barrymore is facing after she announced on Instagram that she had chosen to restart her show without her unionised writers, which, to put it plainly, is scab behaviour.
Drew Barrymore announced that while she had walked away from the MTV, film and television awards because it had a “direct conflict with the strike”, and stated that decision was made out of “solidarity with the writers”.
It was a good start, until she revealed that now she had then made the decision to continue filming her own talk show without its writers, which she justified by claiming the show “was built for sensitive times”. She also claimed that her decision was “in compliance with not discussing or promoting film and television”, with the WGA has since refuted.
Turns out talk shows are supposed to shut down as part of the strike, according to the WGA itself. The union then announced it would be picketing the show, which means Barrymore’s own writers have been protesting outside the studio.
Her decision obviously resulted in swift backlash as people accused the star of essentially abandoning writers for her own gain. It’s giving “now that it affects me, I don’t support you anymore”.
“Convincing yourself you’ve done the right thing is different than doing the right thing,” one comment on her IG post read.
“Don’t cross the picket line – and if you are going to strikebreak… at least have the decency to not gaslight your audience into thinking you’re exhibiting ethical leadership and solidarity. Yikes on bikes Drew — c’mon now.”
Others called her decision “appalling”.
“‘Astute humility’ is a particularly appalling phrase to use for this scabbing decision,” one person said.
“What’s more, you seem to be actively gaslighting your audience. You’re breaking a highly justified strike. Writers deserve fair pay. You can do better. You should.”
Honestly, the whole thing is so disappointing not only because Drew Barrymore is the internet’s (formerly) unproblematic queen, but also because she has first hand experience with how exploitative Hollywood is and can be.
Hopefully she sees just how hurtful her decision has been to those struggling in the industry and she changes her tune. But for now, I guess she’s a scab.
Image: Getty Images / Alexi Rosenfeld, Arturo Holmes
