Drew Barrymore is in a real-life Casey Becker type of situation right now. She squandered quite a bit of the public’s goodwill on her decision to scab the WGA strike and (briefly, thanks to massive backlash) bring her show back to air, not knowing that a resolution to the strike was days away. It’s just like how her character in Scream was dying mere feet away from her parents who could possibly have rescued her, only for her to—well, you know what happened next.
Drew Barrymore played herself, and it sucks! Personally I’m not really a fan of scolding. Life is hard enough without other people watching over your shoulder and nitpicking every little thing you do. However—and this is a big however—scabbing a strike is something entirely different. Unless you were born into immense wealth and privilege (which Barrymore was), you probably understand just how hard things seem in the workplace right now. Wages are stagnant, worker rights have been systematically stripped away, and CEO pay is simply too damn high. Unions are truly our only hope for combatting this inherent inequality for the American worker, and the majority of the country agrees. So when a union tells its labor force to strike, you f****** honor the picket line and don’t cross it, nor bring in scab labor, even if that scab labor is your own.
What Barrymore did was demonstrate to the world that despite what she said, her actions don’t support labor. That sucks! Now that the strike has ended, what comes next for her daytime talk show The Drew Barrymore Show? Well, it seems that no one, not even Barrymore, really knows yet. Per Variety:
After a tentative agreement was reached between the WGA and AMPTP on Sunday, Drew Barrymore’s talk show is looking to return in October, sources close to production tell Variety.
An exact premiere date has not been set. A spokesperson for “The Drew Barrymore Show” declined to comment.
I mean, it probably would have been better for everyone had Barrymore decided to lay low during the strike and not announce to the world she was going to scab, whatever her intentions were, but here we are.
If you’re wondering whether SAG-AFTRA members can appear on the show once it’s back, Entertainment Weekly has the answer for you:
Once the WGA’s new contract is solidified and ratified, talk shows like The Drew Barrymore Show will no longer fall under the category of struck work, as SAG-AFTRA members can freely appear on talk shows as long as they are not promoting film or television projects from struck companies.
So, yes, they can. Whether they’ll want to though is a whole other can of worms.
Here’s the thing. I’m sure once she’s back on the air next month (which could mean as early as this coming Monday) Barrymore will most likely give an emotional speech as to why she decided to scab, and why in retrospect it was a bad idea and how she regrets the harm it caused. That would be very on-brand for her, and I don’t even think it would be manufactured at all.
The reason why this will continue to leave a bad taste in my mouth is that Barrymore always seemed like she understood the struggle most people have. Her choosing to scab, in one definitive move, demonstrated that she doesn’t. Despite her intentions, she showed the world she doesn’t respect the labor movement, and it’s just disappointing. No one is hand-wringing over Bill Maher announcing to the world he was going to scab to bring his show back on the air because everyone already knows he’s a (insert your insult of choice here). Drew Barrymore, though, is beloved. So it hurt.
It’s up to her how she proceeds next. I very much would like her to build upon this mistake and genuinely understand why it was so crappy to cross a picket line, and to do better next time. (There will probably be a next time. Executives be greedy. Thank goodness for unions!) That’s the most we can ask of anyone. Except Bill Maher, because that guy … well. He’s no Drew Barrymore. Clearly.
(Featured Image: Dimension Films)
