Drew Barrymore defends her decision to resume her show with latest video

Drew Barrymore came under fire earlier this week after resuming the production of The Drew Barrymore Show amidst the continuing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, much to the shock and disappointment of her fans. What followed was immense backlash from both writers and actors, as well as netizens across the globe.

She finally addressed this in the latest video posted to her Instagram on Friday, September 15, claiming that her decision is not based only on her choices but also on the people who depend on the show for their livelihood. She admitted that "nothing" she does or says makes it "okay" to film without the writers, but she will continue the production "in compliance" with the strikes.

She said in the video:

"I certainly couldn’t have expected this kind of attention... We aren’t gonna break rules, and we will be in compliance. I wanted to do this because as I said, this is bigger than me, and there are other people’s jobs on the line."

Her video comes a day after the AMPTP publicly stated that they were scheduling a meeting with the WGA.

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"I didn’t want to hide behind people"- Drew Barrymore on the decision to resume The Drew Barrymore show

After the intense backlash that followed Barrymore's return to filming, it was evident that the actor would come out with a statement soon. Many even expected her to halt the filming until things were sorted out.

But Drew Barrymore emphasized that the filming would continue, and she cleared up the rumors about a PR machine being behind her decision to return. She said:

"I don’t exactly know what to say because sometimes when things are so tough, it’s hard to make decisions from that place. So all I can say is that I wanted to accept responsibility, and now I don’t have a PR machine behind this. My decision to go back to the show — I didn’t want to hide behind people....won’t polish this with bells and whistles and publicists and corporate rhetoric. I’ll just stand out there and accept and be responsible."

She also stated that the pandemic was also one of the reasons for her return to the show, stating:

"Since launching live in a pandemic, I just wanted to make a show that was there for people in sensitive times, and 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 added:

"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."

After her statement, many netizens also came forward to support her decision, leaving the internet quite divided.

The Drew Barrymore Show will return to CBS soon.