Drew Barrymore Dropped as National Book Awards Host Amidst Controversy Over Talk Show Return During Writer’s Strike

Drew Barrymore has been dismissed as the host of the National Book Awards, the American foundation which awards the prizes announced on Tuesday, following a flood of criticism over her decision to bring back her daytime talk show despite the television writers’ strike. The National Book Foundation, which gives out the prizes every year, stated in a statement that the move was made to “ensure that the primary emphasis of the awards remained on recognising writers & books.” “The National Book Awards are an evening devoted to celebrating the impact of literature and writers’ incomparable contributions to our culture,” the statement read.

An update on the host of the 2023 National Book Awards. pic.twitter.com/aa5aLh0FIU

— National Book Foundation (@nationalbook) September 12, 2023

“As a result of the recent revelation that The Drew Barrymore Show will be going back to production, the National Book Foundation has cancelled Ms. Barrymore’s invite to host the 74th National Book Awards Ceremony.” The Writers Guild of America (WGA) and striking actors demonstrated outside the CBS studios in New York City on Monday, as The Drew Barrymore Show restarted filming for the first time since April – despite the absence of the show’s three unionised writers. The network stated that the show would return on September 18 without written material “covered by the WGA strike,” taking a similar strategy to The View (1997 to present), which began showing episodes from its new season in September, avoiding union writers.

According to a statement from SAG-AFTRA, Drew Barrymore is not violating SAG-AFTRA rules as the host of the show: "'The Drew Barrymore Show' is produced under the Network Television Code which is a separate contract and is not struck. It is permissible work and Drew’s role as… pic.twitter.com/tLlC2gjZtQ

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— Variety (@Variety) September 11, 2023

Drew Barrymore Was Dropped As The Host Of An Awards Show After A Backlash Over The Revival Of Her TV Show

Drew Barrymore has been snubbed as the host of a forthcoming awards event. The Charlie’s Angels actress was supposed to be the hostess with the mostess at the annual National Book Foundation gala. Nevertheless, the Foundation has already rescinded the 48-year-old’s invitation. The organisation stated on social media, “The National Book Awards is an event committed to celebrating the impact of literature, especially the incomparable contributions of writers to our culture.”The National Book Foundation has cancelled Ms. Barrymore’s invitation to present the 74th National Book Awards Ceremony in light of the revelation that The Drew Barrymore Show will restart production. “We are committed to keeping the Awards dedicated to writers & books, and that’s why we appreciate Ms. Barrymore and her team’s patience in this circumstance.” The actor and talk show host has been under fire in recent days after it was reported that her show would restart taping. While that may not seem like a big deal, the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes are now taking place in the United States. Actors and writers are demanding that movie and television companies pay them more, provide better residual circumstances, and include protections to prevent artificial intelligence from rendering them obsolete.

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A post shared by Drew Barrymore (@drewbarrymore)

Anyone taking part in the strike action and supporting the campaign has agreed not to talk about any project they’ve worked on in the past, present, or future. The majority of Hollywood’s television and film industries have ceased operations, and activities have been halted until an agreement can be reached. Nevertheless, Barrymore’s TV show is one of the few that is still running. Barrymore justified her choice to ‘come back for the very first time in this strike’ in an Instagram

statement. She went on to say that she “made the conscious choice to walk away from the MTV, film, and television awards because [she] was the host, and that it had something to do with the issue the strike was about, which was studios, streamers, film, and television.” “It was also the first week of the strike, so I did what I believed was the appropriate thing at the time, which was to stand in solidarity with the writers,” she continues. Barrymore claims her talk show ‘really concluded on April 20th,’ so they ‘never had to shut down the show,’ but she’s opted to give it the go-ahead today despite the ongoing strikes because the show is ‘greater than just [her]’.

Writers union members picketed the return of "The Drew Barrymore Show." Barrymore is not violating SAG-AFTRA rules as the show's host because the guild contract for talk shows was renewed last year – but picketers worry the show’s return will disrupt union solidarity. pic.twitter.com/vFhusjUa7F

— AP Entertainment (@APEntertainment) September 12, 2023

AP: RT @APEntertainment: Writers union members picketed the return of "The Drew Barrymore Show." Barrymore is not violating SAG-AFTRA rules as the show's host because the guild contract for talk shows was renewed last year – but picketers worry the show’… pic.twitter.com/ZgbjYeQcIg

— Mooha Swartz (@CyberAnonymous) September 12, 2023

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