Drew Barrymore, 48, is pausing her popular talk show, The Drew Barrymore Show, after receiving backlash for previously deciding to go on with the new season despite the current WGA and SAG strikes. The actress took to Instagram on Sunday to share a message announcing the change. She also deleted an apology video she posted one day prior.
“I have listened to everyone, and I am making the decision to pause the show’s premiere until the strike is over,” her message read. “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,” she continued. “And I truly hope for a resolution for the entire industry very soon.”
The Everyone Says I Love You star also included a caption that read the same thing underneath the image of the main message. Her comments for the post were turned off.
Drew’s latest decision to pause her show comes after she initially received backlash from some people involved in the film and television industry when she revealed she was going forward with filming the new series of her show. The Writers Guild of America, East took to Twitter to write that The Drew Barrymore Show was “struck” and that any writing on the show would be “in violation of WGA strike rules.”
After the backlash, Drew was pulled as the host of the National Book Awards by the Nation Book Foundation. The ceremony was supposed to take place on Nov. 15 but the organization announced the news that she would no longer be a part of the event due to her decision to continue her talk show. Drew then posted a now deleted emotional apology video on Sept. 15 and it gave more details about why she decided to go on with the show.
“I believe there’s nothing I can do or say in this moment to make it OK,” she began saying in the lengthy 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. I fully understand that.”
“There are so many reasons why this . 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,” she continued before going into why she was going to start the new season. “Why am I doing this? Well, I certainly couldn’t have expected this kind of attention, and we aren’t going to break rules, and we will be in compliance,” she explained. “I wanted to do this because as I said, this is bigger than me. And there are other people’s jobs on the line.”