Can Drew Barrymore Rebound From Her Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week?
From “protect her at all costs” to public enemy number one in record time. But don’t underestimate Drew’s ability to bounce back.
“Bullying works!” “You get to exhale now, Drew!” “I loved the chaos of your very brief ‘villain era’ but so happy you’re back to unproblematic Drew.” These were just some of the sentiments expressed online on Sunday. Also: “Just an unbelievable unforced error” and “the thing that blows my mind most about this whole kerfuffle is how easily it could’ve been avoided.” A lot happened in a limited amount of time. Let’s retread and evaluate where we netted out and where to go from here. Shall we?
“Learn something from this,” Tyra Banks famously said in a terse (to say the least) showdown with Tiffany Richardson back in a Cycle 4 episode of America’s Next Top Model. These words ricocheted through my brain as I read Drew Barrymore’s second go at a public apology and anticipated the public response. Barrymore had, after all, gone from “protect her at all costs” to public enemy number one in just days.
Full disclosure: I know Drew a little bit. We follow one another on socials, I’ve been on her podcast and if I saw her at a party, I’d likely run over to her and scream, “Whenever you can, go out into the rain! Do not miss the opportunityyyy!” I say this because I think it informs my perspective on this and can help underline why I might be more easily prone to give her the benefit of the doubt than others.
9/10: The news firstly cycled whirled into motion with a now-deleted Instagram post, when Barrymore (an earlier supporter of the strike, having pulled out of her hosting gig at the MTV Movie & TV Awards in May 2023) shared a Notes App-adjacent announcement on her grid announcing that her daytime talk show, The Drew Barrymore Show, would begin its fourth season imminently in accordance with the rules of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and SAG-AFTRA strikes. “I own this choice,” Barrymore wrote, seeming to recognize the controversy she might be courting with her decision. “We launched live in a global pandemic. Our show was built for sensitive times and has only functioned through what the real world is going through in real time… I hope for a resolve for everyone as soon as possible. We have navigated difficult times since we first came on air. And so I take a step forward to start Season 4 once again with an astute humility.”
The backlash was immediate, with many calling Barrymore a scab — a worker who crosses a picket line in violation of a planned work stoppage or strike — and the show being picketed by the WGA. “[We] would love to see the show stand in solidarity with us, and it’s not too late,” The Drew Barrymore Show co-head writer Cristina Kinon told the Daily Beast.
9/15: Then came the also now-deleted apology video. “I believe there’s nothing I can do or say in this moment to make it okay,” she stated in the four plus-minute apology video that did not conclude with any action items.
9/17: Barrymore issues yet another statement, this one much pithier: “I have listened to everyone, and I am making the decision to pause the show’s premiere until the strike is over. 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. We really tried to find our way forward. And I truly hope for resolution for the entire industry very soon.”
That’s where our story begins.