Drew Barrymore Drops Out of Hosting MTV Awards Show Over Writers’ Strike

Drew Barrymore will now not host the MTV Movie & TV Awards on Sunday, saying that she would step down in assist of the writers’ strike in Hollywood that has seen late-night comedy exhibits go darkish and hundreds of tv and film writers take to picket traces.

Ms. Barrymore’s choice, which was introduced Thursday, was the most recent blow to the awards present, which has additionally canceled its pink carpet and may even see different expertise withdraw, in keeping with Variety.

“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,” Ms. Barrymore stated in an announcement to the publication. “Everything we celebrate and honor about movies and television is born out of their creation.”

Ms. Barrymore stated on Instagram she would return to host the present subsequent 12 months and was nonetheless planning to observe the present on Sunday. Representatives for Ms. Barrymore and for MTV couldn’t instantly be reached Friday morning.

Bruce Gillmer, a president at Paramount Global and an govt producer of the MTV Movie & TV Awards, instructed Variety that the present would go on and not using a host.

It’s unclear which celeb presenters and visitors are nonetheless planning to attend, together with Jennifer Coolidge, who’s being honored.

The MTV Movie & TV Awards has dealt with sudden shifts earlier than, suspending and finally canceling its present in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. A particular, hosted by the actress Vanessa Hudgens, aired later that 12 months.

Thousands of screenwriters went on strike on Tuesday, after 15 years of relative labor peace in Hollywood.

Some of probably the most quick results have been seen on discuss exhibits and sketch exhibits. New episodes from late-night exhibits hosted by Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel have been suspended. “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and “Late Night With Seth Meyers” have aired reruns whereas the hosts of these exhibits and NBC have agreed to increase workers pay for a brief interval, in keeping with Deadline.

“Saturday Night Live” canceled a brand new episode scheduled for this weekend, and NBC stated it could “air repeats until further notice.”

Writers have stated that their compensation has remained the identical whilst tv manufacturing has grown over the previous decade. The unions representing the writers, the East and West branches of the Writers Guild of America, stated “the companies’ behavior has created a gig economy inside a union work force, and their immovable stance in this negotiation has betrayed a commitment to further devaluing the profession of writing.”

W.G.A. leaders stated that the survival of writing as a occupation was at stake in the course of the negotiations.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which bargains on behalf of Hollywood firms, stated in an announcement earlier than the strikes started this week that its supply included “generous increases in compensation for writers.”