Drew Barrymore’s tears in her so-called “apology” video aren’t helping her beat the scab allegations, because in spite of her claims that she supports the striking writers, she’s still refusing to stop production of the next season of her talk show.
The actress announced the return of The Drew Barrymore Show early this week and was quickly hit with backlash over her decision, with leaders of the Writer’s Guild of America accusing her of violation the rules of their strike. The program employs writers who are under the contract of this union, and therefore it’s considered a struck show.
Union members have already picketed outside of the studio, prompting Barrymore to put out a video statement that is not going over any better than her first one.
This probably has something to do with the fact that it’s not a real apology if you’re not going to stop the behavior you’re allegedly apologizing for, is it? It does not good to “take full responsibility” for one’s actions if those actions continue — they’re just empty, meaningless words.
“There are so many reasons why this is so complex,” she claims. “And 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.”
Except that it is who she is, because she’s doing the thing, right now, and refuses to stop. And using the word “deeply” in front of “apologize” does nothing to change that.
Barrymore went on to claim that she didn’t want to hide behind a “PR machine” when it came to this move, which she seems to think makes it better, but it doesn’t, if it’s even true. There are plenty of PR firms who have directed their clients to remove their makeup and pretend to sort of cry on camera while giving false, empty apologies — especially when it comes to actors.
When she got to the part where she explained why she was continuing with the new season of the talk show, she didn’t give any better explanation than she had before with her original text statement. She once again claimed that she simply has to harm the strike effort because something about other people with jobs (who will be indirectly harmed by the general undermining of labor organizing) and because the public simply needs her show.
“I weighed the scales and I thought if we could go on during a global pandemic and everything that the world experienced through 2020, why would this sideline us?” she said. “So I want to just put one foot in front of the other and make a show that’s there for people regardless of anything else that’s happening in the world, because that’s when I think we all need something that wants to be there, being very realistic in very realistic times.”
So basically, if she didn’t care that she might be spreading a deadly virus back in 2020 by making the show, why should she care that she’s attacking workers’ rights today? Surely she needs to add to the noise because “we” “need something” that is “realistic.”
She further again claimed that making her show without her union writers wasn’t against the strike rules in direct contradiction to the exact people who make and enforce the strike rules.
Also, if she’s really so concerned about the ability of other workers on the show to make money, she could start a fundraising effort like celebrities do all the time, or even use some of her estimated $125 million in net worth to help. That would be a lot more helpful than running yet another celebrity talk show that absolutely no one has needed in the history of the universe.
The only bit of new information we get here is a very revealing statement from her at the beginning of the “why” section of this performance.
“I certainly couldn’t have expected this kind of attention,” she says with a weird laugh before switching back to serious mode.
In other words, she did it because she thought she could get away with it.
The only believable part of this video is where she says she didn’t hire a PR firm for this, because she should have been able to afford one good enough to tell her that this video would only make things worse for her. People really, really hate it.
