TV: Drew Barrymore postpones daytime talk show until after Hollywood strikes following backlash

The National Book Awards dropped Barrymore as the host for this year's ceremony, a day after her talk show taped its first episode since the Hollywood writers' strike began. Photo / AP

Drew Barrymore, who drew criticism for taping new episodes of her daytime talk show despite the ongoing writers and actors strikes, now says she’ll wait until the labour issues are resolved. Hours later CBS’ The Talk did the same.

“I have listened to everyone, and I am making the decision 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 apologies to anyone I have hurt and, of course, to our incredible team who works on the show and has made it what it is today.”

Barrymore’s initial decision to return to the air Monday - without her three union writers and with picketers outside her 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,” said a CBS Media Ventures spokesperson.

Other daytime shows have resumed. The View has returned for its 27th season on ABC, while Tamron Hall and Live With Kelly and Ryan - neither are governed by writers’ guild rules - have also been producing fresh episodes. The Jennifer Hudson Show was to restart Monday.

Drew Barrymore of The Drew Barrymore Show poses at The Empire State Building. Photo / Getty Images

But The Talk scrapped its restart, planned for Monday. “We will continue to evaluate plans for a new launch date,” CBC said in a statement Sunday.

Ariel Dumas, head writer and supervising producer for The Late Show With Stephen Colbert reacted on X, formerly Twitter: “This is really great,” she wrote, saying The Drew Barrymore Show “decided to do the right thing. I hope @TheView and others will follow suit.”

As long as the hosts and guests don’t discuss or promote work covered by television, theatrical or streaming contracts, they’re not technically breaking the strike.

That’s because talk shows are covered under a separate contract - the so-called Network Code - from the one actors and writers are striking over. The Network Code also covers reality TV, sports, morning news shows, soap operas and game shows.

Barrymore’s stance prompted the National Book Awards to uninvite her as host in November. The organisation rescinded her invitation “in light of the announcement that The Drew Barrymore Show will 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 Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents Disney, Netflix, Amazon and others.