Drew Barrymore will not be hosting the National Book Foundation’s award ceremony this year due to her decision to continue airing her daytime talk show amid the national WGA strike.
On Monday of this week, Barrymore announced that her program would resume production without unionized writers on staff. Barrymore stated that her show will air “in compliance” with the SAG-AFTRA strike that began in July, and which prohibits actors from promoting their work.
The National Book Foundation released a statement on Tuesday of this week regarding Barrymore’s decision to resume production and its impact on the upcoming award ceremony:
In light of the announcement that ‘The Drew Barrymore Show’ will resume production, the National Book Foundation has rescinded Ms.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.
Ironically, Barrymore declined to host the MTV Movie & TV Awards earlier this year in solidarity with the WGA strike. She has acknowledged the disconnect between that decision and her recent choice to air her own show:
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 … 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.
The WGA has confirmed that The Drew Barrymore Show is, in fact, covered under the Writer’s Guild, its airing is in violation of the strike rules, and is subject to picketing by striking writers. Picketing by the guild—including Barrymore’s own writers— has already begun outside the show’s studio in New York City.
The writers’ strike began in response to the declining pay and poor conditions that film and TV writers have been working under in the age of streaming. September marks the fourth month that writers have been on strike.
(featured image: Taylor Hill/WireImage)
