Drew Barrymore dropped from hosting gig after resuming talk show amid strike

Actor Drew Barrymore has been removed as National Book Awards host due to her decision to resume filming her talk show during the Hollywood writersrsquo strikeThe update was shared by the National Book Foundation via a statement on Tuesday USbased news portal Deadline reportedldquoThe National Book Awards is an evening dedicated to celebrating the power of literature and the incomparable contributions of writers to our culture 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 situationrdquo the foundation saidBarrymore had previously backed out of hosting the MTV Movie amp TV Awards in support of the Writers Guild of Americarsquos strike But earlier this week she announced her show would be returning drawing anger from members of both the WGA and SAGAFTRABarrymore insisted that her talk show set to return for its fourth season on September 18 will abide by the rules of the strikeldquoI made a choice to walk away from the MTV film and television awards because I was the host and it had a direct conflict with what the strike was dealing with which was studios streamers film and television It was also in the first week of the strike and so I did what I thought was the appropriate thing at the time to stand in solidarity with the writers And to be clear our talk show actually wrapped on April 20th so we never had to shut down the show However I am also making the choice to come back for the first time in this strike for our show that may have my name on it but this is bigger than just merdquo she wroteShe added ldquoI own this choice We are in compliance with not discussing or promoting film and television that is struck of any kind 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 want to be there to provide what writers do so well which is a way to bring us together or help us make sense of the human experience 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 humilityrdquoThe National Book Awards ceremony is scheduled to take place on Nov 15 in New York CityTV and film writers in the Writers Guild of America went on strike in May after the union was unable to come to a new contract agreement with the Hollywood studios and streamersSAGAFTRA the union representing 160000 actors and performers went on strike in July after they too were unable to reach a new contract agreement with major studios Wages streaming residuals and AI usage remain central issues in the stalemateThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever