Drew Barrymore is continuing to make headlines this week with the return of The Drew Barrymore Show.
The Writers Guild of America (WGA) members and writers for the show picketed outside CBS Studios Monday (September 11) in New York as the talk show resumed filming amid the Hollywood strikes.
If you didn’t know, Drew gave her reason for resuming the show over the weekend, which has been sharply criticized.
Keep reading to find out more…
Two audience members, who signed up for free tickets to the taping, were handed WGA pins as they walked by picketers and say they were asked to leave before the show began because they were wearing the pins, according to THR.
The scheduled guests for Monday’s taping included Brooke Shields, who was set to speak about a documentary not covered under WGA and the documentary’s executive producer, Ali Wentworth.
Jordan Fisher, who was in the cast of the Broadway musical Sweeney Todd through June, was also set to appear and speak about his time in the musical.
Dominic Turiczek and Cassidy Carter, the two audience members, are New York City-based students who planned to attend the show after signing up free tickets about a week and a half ago, not aware of the strikes.
The two said they were asked to take off the buttons at security. While Cassidy did so, Dominic was still wearing his button as they entered the studio. He said a crew member saw the button and asked them both to leave.
Once kicked out, the two joined the picket lines outside.
“If they think we’re part of the strike, we might as well be.” Cassidy said, added that she had signed up for tickets as a fan, but is now “disheartened” by the experience.
“It really has changed my perspective on her and the show in general. I’ve been completely alarmed and disheartened by this whole process.”
Three WGA writers, who are all co-head writers on the show, were in attendance at the picket line as well, and said they found out that the show would resume after coming across audience ticket giveaways on social media.
Find out more about why the WGA is criticizing Drew Barrymore‘s decision.