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On September 11, actress, producer, author, and talk show host Drew Barrymore took to Instagram to share her decision about returning to work and resuming her talk show, The Drew Barrymore Show, amid the ongoing SAG-AFTRA and WGA strike. Since then, Drew Barrymore has earned backlash for being a “scab.”
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, the word “scab” is used as an insult to define a worker who acts against trade union policies, especially a strikebreaker.
In fact, an individual who’s a “scab” can often choose to work while other people in the same organization continue to remain on strike.
In her Instagram post, Drew Barrymore stated how initially she was in full solidarity with the strike and even stepped back from hosting the MTV Movie and TV Awards, as in was “in direct conflict” with the strike. She further continued by saying:
“However, I am also making the choice to come back for the first time in this strike for our show, which may have my name on it but this is bigger than just me. I own this choice.”
In the aftermath of Barrymore’s scabbing post, the WGA (Writers Guild of America) which covers The Drew Barrymore Show issued a public statement on X (formerly Twitter) that the actress’ decision was in direct violation of their strike rules.
Exploring the meaning of scab in the wake of Drew Barrymore’s post
According to the journal Pittsburgh Union Progress, the word “scab” can be traced back to 1881 when it was mentioned in a Pittsburgh-based newspaper to describe strikebreaking workers.
Back then, underaged boys were employed as telegraph messengers and working more than 12-hour shifts every day of the week to deliver wire dispatches, and packages for businessmen, and run all kinds of errands.
They were overworked and underpaid, which is why, by the fall of that year, the laborers aged 10 to 18 demanded better wages and working conditions.
When they were refused, they went on strike, and by the evening of September 10, 1881, the city’s telegraph office area had turned into the center of a labor dispute.
Amid the ongoing strike, a reporter for the local newspaper Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette asked one of the young strikers whether all of his co-workers were on strike. To which, he responded that there were about 40 of them, but numbers 6, 34, 19, and 15 were “scabs.”
Since then, the word “scab” has been used to describe strikebreakers and is a common word in trade union and striker circles. In today’s times, the term mainly refers to workers who choose to cross the picket line and no longer stand with the moral and ethical sides of a strike, and can often mean an insult.
However, according to Stephanie A. Smith’s 2006 book Household Words, the word “scab” was first used to describe strikebreakers during an 1806 court case in the USA where bootmakers and shoemakers were on trial.
In fact, as per her book, the word is more of a metaphor and refers to those who “disfigures the social body of labor – both the solidarity of workers and the dignity of work.”
Over the years, the intensity of “scab” has fluctuated, but its meaning has continued to remain.
In brief, throwing light on Drew Barrymore's recent scabbing
On Monday, the 48-year-old actress and talk show host Drew Barrymore posted a lengthy post on Instagram highlighting her decision to resume her popular talk show The Drew Barrymore Show.
She began by saying how at the start of the strike, she chose to “walk away” from hosting the MTV Film and Television Awards.
“I did what I thought was the appropriate thing at the time to stand in solidarity with the writers.”
She further continued by saying how her talk show’s third season wrapped up before the strike began, saving them the trouble of shutting it down. But now, she was choosing to resume its shooting despite the ongoing strike, as according to her, the show was much more than just her.
“I own this choice. We are in compliance with not discussing or promoting film and television that is struck of any kind.”
Barrymore wrapped up by stating how her show launched during the COVID-19 pandemic, and was “built for sensitive times” and “functioned through what the real world is going through in real-time.”
Having said that, she insisted on how eager she was to start season 4 with “astute humility” to “navigate difficult times” and “make sense of human experience.”
Unfortunately, the WGA did not agree with Drew Barrymore’s assessment and said that unlike her opinion the show was not in compliance with the strike guidelines, as stated on their official X account. In the wake of the controversy, here is some of the backlash faced by Barrymore online.
What’s interesting is that CBS Media Ventures which produces The Drew Barrymore Show told Fox News Digital that it will resume on September 18 without “literal material” as no writer was available.
Meanwhile, Cristina Kinon, the co-head writer of the show told the news outlet that the “staff writers were not notified that the show was returning for a fourth season without writers.”
Apart from Barrymore herself, other celebrities also came under fire for liking her scabbing Instagram post including the likes of Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Garner, Lily Collins, Kristen Bell, Paris Hilton, and Cara Delevingne, among others.
As of Wednesday, Garner and Bell seemed to have unliked the post, but others did not.
