Drew Barrymore’s Head Writers Decline to Return to Talk Show
The Drew Barrymore Show will be returning (again) without its original writers.
The show extended an offer to the three co-head writers, Chelsea White, Liz Koe, and Cristina Kinon, but they all declined. In the meantime, the show is interviewing with other writers to fill their spot, and will adhere to guild guidelines, a source close to the show tells Rolling Stone. The show plans to be back on air on Oct. 16.
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Since CBS announced the daytime talk show would move forward with its fourth season premiere on Sept. 18, without its three writers, Barrymore received immense backlash. White, Koe and Kinon stood outside the Drew Barrymore Show studio along with other striking writers, in protest of Barrymore’s decision to return during the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike. At the time, the talk show was considered “in violation of WGA strike rules,” according to the WGA. Barrymore was soon dropped from hosting the National Book Awards, and on Sept. 17 decided to pause the show’s premiere until the strike ended.
All three co-head writers worked alongside Barrymore since the first season and had a positive experience, but Koe expressed uncertainty on whether she would return to the show once the WGA landed a fair contract prior to the WGA reaching a tentative agreement.
“There’s so much that will happen between now and then,” Koe said, prior to the WGA reaching a tentative agreement. “We have to get this strike resolved, and you have to get the deal set. It’s impossible to know.”
The Writers Guild and Hollywood studios reached a tentative agreement Sept. 24, and the union’s full membership has begun casting votes this week to ratify the contract. The Writers Guild called the contract “exceptional” and noted that it included “gains and protections” for its union members.
White, Kinon and Koe, did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone‘s requests for comment.
White first learned about the show’s original return and ticket sales in a social media post. While on the picket lines, her top priorities were fair wages, AI protections and shifting from a gig economy to a sustainable career. The show’s third season wrapped up before the start of the strike, she said, and White was unsure if she’d return to the talk show without an offer on the table.
“That’s kind of up in the air for everybody,” White said at the time before the tentative agreement was reached. “I don’t have enough information to answer that question.”
Before Barrymore declined to host the MTV Movie & TV Awards in May, Kinon was hired to help write for the awards show and appreciated Barrymore’s early efforts to support the strike.
“It was exciting to be with the show from the beginning, help create it and establish a new show, especially with Drew Barrymore,” Kinon said to the Rolling Stone last month.
The actors union, SAG-AFTRA, defended Barrymore’s decision to return in September amid the writers strike.
“Many of these shows are, like The Drew Barrymore Show, produced under the Network Television Code agreement which is a separate contract and is not struck,” wrote a SAG-AFTRA spokesperson. “Programs covered under the Network Television Code are permissible work and a member’s role as host on a covered show would not violate the current strike rules.”
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