Drew Barrymore's Most Scandalous Career Move

After launching in 2020, Drew Barrymore's talk show, "The Drew Barrymore Show", rose to fame because of her intimate and personable interview style, but one move she made nearly caused that to crumble.

The Writers Guild of America famously went on strike during the summer of 2023 to negotiate wages, the use of AI in writer's rooms, and halting work for any shows whose writers were members of the WGA. Despite this, "The Drew Barrymore Show," proceeded with filming without its writers.

The backlash Barrymore received was instantaneous, as the WGA posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, in September 2023 and wrote, "The @DrewBarrymoreTV Show is a WGA covered, struck show that is planning to return without its writers. The Guild has, and will continue to, picket struck shows that are in production during the strike. Any writing on 'The Drew Barrymore Show' is in violation of WGA strike rules." Barrymore responded to the attacks with a now-deleted video posted to Instagram after initially defending her decision. In the emotional clip, Barrymore stated, "I believe that there is nothing I can do or say in this moment to make it okay. 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." She then went on to further explain her decision to continue filming, and that her intentions were always positive.

Production was paused for "The Drew Barrymore Show" later in September 2023 due to the WGA strike. After its resolution, filming resumed in October 2023. Despite the famed talk show nearly seeing its end, it continued to rise the ranks and was renewed for a fifth and sixth season.

The former actress' uniquely comfortable approach with her guests causes fans to be divided in thinking she is either too buddy-buddy with the celebrities or she is encouraging a sense of comfort; regardless, it got people's attention. Not every guest appreciates it — Martha Stewart shut down Barrymore's touchiness during her November 2024 interview. On a December 2024 episode of the show with "Wicked" star Cynthia Erivo as the guest, Barrymore shared, "People have to warn me. They're like, 'Back off a little bit,'" referring to physical touch.

Many viewers also criticized Barrymore's nickname for Kamala Harris, but Barrymore has also made moves on her show that were praised. Back in October 2024, Pamela Anderson appeared as a guest on the show. Anderson, who has been attending public events makeup-free since 2023, influenced Barrymore and lifestyle expert Valerie Bertinelli to join her sans glam. After Anderson spoke about how important that has been to her, Barrymore stated, "Sorry, if we're really going to be honest here ..." as she took her hair out of a low bun and excitedly removed her hair extensions. The inadvertent protest was followed by an uproar of applause, with Anderson and Bertinelli cheering her on.