Drew Barrymore broke her silence Friday about relaunching her talk show amid the ongoing writers strike.
Barrymore announced Sunday that she would be proceeding with the next season of “The Drew Barrymore Show” despite SAG-AFTRA’s efforts to halt nearly all Hollywood production until their negotiations prove to be fruitful. She has since faced backlash for her decision to defy the strike and air her show, including the National Book Foundation’s choice to rescind Barrymore’s invitation to host the National Book Awards.
“I believe there’s nothing I can do or say in this moment to make it OK,” Barrymore said through tears in the emotional video. “I wanted to own a decision so that it wasn’t a PR, protected situation. And I would just take full responsibility for my actions.”
“I know there’s just nothing I can do that will make this OK for those that is not OK with. I fully accept that,” Barrymore continued. “I fully understand that.”
Barrymore said “The Drew Barrymore Show” continued to air through the pandemic, and that she thinks the writers strike is a similar situation she and the show can push through.
After six days of backlash, Drew Barrymore has uploaded this video responding to the news that she is bringing her talk show back during the writer’s strike.
She says the reason she’s bringing her show back is she managed to do it during the pandemic, so she feels the strike… pic.twitter.com/NVbIeSmdqI
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) September 15, 2023
“There are so many reasons why this is so complex, and I just want everyone to know my intentions have never been in a place to upset or hurt anyone.”
“It’s not who I am. I’ve been through so many ups and downs in my life and this is one of them. I deeply apologize to writers. I deeply apologize to unions. I deeply apologize,” she said, before pausing for an extended moment and visibly fighting to hold back tears.
The actress and talk show host accepted full responsibility for her decision and noted she was speaking off-the-cuff and from the heart, without a PR team behind her to craft her statement. (RELATED: ‘Not The Only People With Issues’: Bill Maher Announces Return Of Show Amid Writers Strike)
Barrymore addressed the question of “why” she chose to go against those on strike and push forward with her show.
“I wanted to do this because as I said, this is bigger than me. And there are other people’s jobs on the line,” she said.
“And since launching live in a pandemic, I just wanted to make a show that was there for people in sensitive times, and I weighed the scales and I thought if we could go on during a global pandemic and everything that the world is experienced through 2020, why would this sideline us?”