Hours after Drew Barrymore posted an emotional video in which she apologized for bringing back her daytime talk show amid the Hollywood writers strike, the mea culpa appeared to have been deleted.
In the clip, Barrymore made it clear that, despite the backlash over her decision, the Sept. 18 premiere of The Drew Barrymore Show would go on. She teared up as she “deeply” apologized to both writers and unions for crossing the picket line to return to the air. However, she then pivoted and said the show will premiere as scheduled — without its Writers Guild of America (WGA) writers, who have been on strike since May as they fight for more equitable wages and working conditions.
In the lengthy video recorded in her kitchen and without, in her words, a “PR machine” behind her, Barrymore said, “I deeply apologize to writers. I deeply apologize to unions.” She takes “full responsibility” for going ahead with the show. She also acknowledged, “I believe there’s nothing I can do or say in this moment to make it OK.” She called it a “complex” decision and one “bigger than me” with many “other people’s jobs on the line.” She insisted, “We aren’t going to break rules and are going to be in compliance,” despite the show being considered a struck show by WGA. She ended by saying, “I just want everyone to know my intentions have never been in a place to upset or hurt anyone. It’s not who I am.”
It’s unclear what response she was hoping for, but most weren’t having the half-apology. Debra Messing, currently on strike with actors union SAG-AFTRA, wrote in the comments, “You can choose now to halt production. You can choose to pay your employees like other talk show hosts who have stood in solidarity with the writers. There are thousands of union members jobs and livelihoods that are at stake (exponential more than those who work on your show) and the future of our beloved industry. I hope you will reconsider.”
Ever Carradine, also on strike with SAG, commented, “I was so hopeful that this was a video of you announcing that you were stepping away from your show and joining your writers on the picket line. I am such a fan of yours, as an artist and as a human, but I will never understand your choice to cross a picket line… It is not too late to change your mind.”
Renée Felice Smith, also striking with SAG commented, “Who is advising you? Digging your heels in is not the move.” Meanwhile striking writer Bess Kalb was unimpressed by Barrymore’s efforts in the video, taped in the star’s $8 million NYC duplex, that just had a major kitchen renovation.
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