‘I Own This Choice’: Drew Barrymore Announces Return of Talk Show, Breaks Ranks from Hollywood Strikers

US actress Drew Barrymore announced she would be returning to "The Drew Barrymore Show" despite the Hollywood strikes of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and SAG-AFTRA.

Her decision came after she declined to host the MTV Movie & TV Awards to support the groups on strike since last May to fight for a new contract meeting their demands for better pay, success-based residuals for streaming content, and regulations regarding the use of artificial intelligence (AI).

"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 an Instagram statement. "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."

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What Made Barrymore Change Her Mind?

Barrymore added in her statement that it was her own decision to come back and produce the show that bears her name for the first time after the strike. She also assured protesters would abide by the rules of the strike.

"I own this choice," she said. "We are in compliance with not discussing or promoting film and television that is struck of any kind. We launched live in a global pandemic. Our show was built for sensitive times and has only functioned through what the real world is going through in real-time."

She also hoped for a resolution for everyone involved in the strike and the producers "as soon as possible," hoping for the fourth season of her program, which has been airing since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and pushed beyond that, to be "a step forward."

Meanwhile, WGA announced it would be picketing the talk show at its studio at the CBS Broadcast Center in Manhattan on Monday (September 11).

"The Drew Barrymore Show is a WGA-covered, struck show that is planning to return without its writers," the Guild stated. "The Guild has and will continue to, picket-struck shows that are in production during the strike. Any writing on 'The Drew Barrymore Show' violates WGA strike rules."