Drew Barrymore Drops Out Of Hosting MTV Movie & TV Awards To Support Writers' Strike
The ongoing writer's strike in Hollywood has officially impacted "The MTV Movie & TV Awards." The awards show is set to take place this weekend and was set to be hosted by Drew Barrymore. However, the "Charlie's Angels" and "Scream" star has opted to drop out of the hosting gig as a show of solidarity with the Writers Guild of America.
According to Variety, the awards ceremony is still going to take place Sunday night. Rather than attempt to replace "The Drew Barrymore Show" host at the 11th hour, MTV intends to proceed without a host at all, although Barrymore has agreed to host next year's event as a show of good faith. Barrymore had this to say about it in a statement:
"I have listened to the writers, and in order to truly respect them, I will pivot from hosting the 'MTV Movie & TV Awards' live in solidarity with the strike. Everything we celebrate and honor about movies and television is born out of their creation. And until a solution is reached, I am choosing to wait but I'll be watching from home and hope you will join me. I thank MTV, who has truly been some of the best partners I have ever worked with. And I can't wait to be a part of this next year, when I can truly celebrate everything that MTV has created, which is a show that allows fans to choose who the awards go to and is truly inclusive."
The WGA officially went on strike as of May 2, 2023 after contract talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) broke down. Neither side is showing signs of wavering several days in, suggesting this could drag out for a while.
The show must go on
Even though Drew Barrymore won't be at the event in person, she had appeared in several pre-taped segments, which may still air. The other thing that MTV needs to consider, unfortunately, is that many other attendees and presenters may also opt not to attend the event, showing solidarity with the WGA as well. Bruce Gillmer, president of music, music talent, programming and events at Paramount Global, as well as an executive producer of the awards show, had this to say:
"We're going to be super respectful of the talents' decisions to either be involved in pre-tapes, show up or not show up, whatever they decide. We've got backup plans and coverage just in case, so I guess the short answer is, I'm not sure yet ... There's also athletes and celebrity chefs and all kinds of other talent that are not squarely affected. So we'll be going down that road. We will be looking for some live talent in the room to help tell the story, but not host segments per se. We also have a very charismatic VO artist with us, so stay tuned. It's all unfolding in real-time."
This is far from the only show that has been impacted by the strike. Pete Davidson's upcoming episode of "Saturday Night Live" will not be happening, with most daytime and late-night talk shows going off the air this week as well for an indefinite amount of time. As the strike stretches on longer, more and more shows, in addition to movies, will be affected.
"The MTV Movie & TV Awards" take place on May 7, 2023.