Drew Barrymore, who has been criticized for taping new episodes of her daytime talk show amid an ongoing strike by writers and actors, now says she will wait until labor issues are resolved. Hours later, CBS’ “The Talk” did the same thing.
“I have listened to everyone and I have decided to pause the show’s premiere until the strike is over,” Barrymore posted on Instagram on Sunday. “I have no words to express my deepest apology to anyone I have hurt and, of course, to our amazing team who have been a part of making this show what it is today.”
Barrymore’s initial decision to return to the network Monday — without three union writers and with pickets outside the studio — was met with pushback on social media. Her show resumed taping in New York last week and was picketed by striking writers.
“We support Drew’s decision to pause the show’s return and understand how complex and difficult this process has been for her,” a CBS Media Ventures spokesperson said.
Other daytime shows have resumed. “The View” is in its 27th season on ABC, while “Tamron Hall” and “Live With Kelly and Ryan” (neither of which are subject to Writers Guild rules) have been producing new episodes. “The Jennifer Hudson Show” will resume on Monday.
But “The Talk” canceled plans to restart on Monday. “We continue to evaluate plans for a new release date,” the CBC said in a statement on Sunday.
Ariel Dumas, head writer and executive producer of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” responded on X (formerly Twitter): “This is really cool,” she wrote, adding that ” The Drew Barrymore Show” “Decided to do the right thing. I hope @TheView and others will follow suit.”
As long as hosts and guests don’t discuss or promote productions covered by TV, theatrical or streaming contracts, they’re technically not strikebreakers. That’s because talk shows are covered by a separate contract, the so-called network code, signed by actors and writers. Network Code also covers reality TV, sports, morning news shows, soap operas and game shows.
Barrymore’s stance prompted the National Book Awards to rescind her invitation to host in November. The organization rescinded her invitation “in light of news that The Drew Barrymore Show would resume production.”
The ongoing strike pits the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists against the Motion Picture and Television Producers Alliance, which represents Disney, Netflix, Amazon and others.
