Drew Barrymore’s National Book Awards hosting gig was rescinded after the actress resumed her talk show, The Drew Barrymore Show, amid the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes in Hollywood.
“In light of the announcement that ‘The Drew Barrymore Show’ will resume production, the National Book Foundation has rescinded Ms.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,” organizers of the National Book Awards said in a statement on Tuesday.
An update on the host of the 2023 National Book Awards. pic.twitter.com/aa5aLh0FIU
— National Book Foundation (@nationalbook) September 12, 2023
“Our commitment is to ensure that the focus of the Awards remains on celebrating writers and books, and we are grateful to Ms. Barrymore and her team for their understanding in this situation,” the National Book Foundation added.
A slew of social media users quickly took to the comment section to thank the National Book Foundation for its decision.
“Thank you for standing with the writers!” one X user exclaimed.
“Thank you for standing in solidarity with the writers!” another echoed.
“Thank you for doing the right thing, for standing up for writers, and for acting so quickly,” a third commented.
“Thank you for standing with the WGA writers,” another wrote.
“Thanks for doing the right thing!” another chimed in.
As Breitbart News reported, Barrymore was slammed by fellow actors and writers for bringing her talk show back amid the writers’ strikes, with some calling her “gross,” a “scab,” and “incredibly disappointing.”
Barrymore announced the return of her talk show in a social media post on Sunday, writing, in part, “I own this choice. We are in compliance with not discussing or promoting film and television that is struck of any kind.”
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In addition to being blasted by members of her own industry, social media users also took the comment section of her post to slam the actress.
“Convincing yourself you’ve done the right thing is different than doing the right thing,” the commented with the most “likes” read. “Don’t cross the picket line – and if you are going to strikebreak.. at least have the decency to not gaslight your audience into thinking you’re exhibiting ethical leadership and solidarity.”
“Please, I really urge you to reconsider. This will be detrimental to your writers in the long run and will affect them far beyond this show,” the second most-liked comment read.
“Trying to dupe the general public is not a great look,” the third most-liked comment read. “Your show is a WGA show. You are not in compliance with the strike and I hope you shut it down and acknowledge the damage you are doing. The unions that have aided in your success do not support what you are doing.”
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
