Drew Barrymore got bullied so badly by the internet, that it probably had a hand in ending the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike.
The WGA strike, which started this May and sparked concerns of mistreatment and the threat of developing technology taking over industry jobs, has now ended.
An agreement was recently made, finally ending the strike, right after the internet went into an uproar when Barrymore crossed the picket line.
One lucky Barrymore fan, Dominic Turiczek, won tickets to see the filming of her talk show, unaware it was disobeying the WGA strike rules.
Turiczek attempted to support the writers by sporting a small red merchandise pin. Upon seeing this sign of allyship to the strike, he was removed from the show by production.
Barrymore’s talk show restarted its fourth season amidst the WGA strike on Sept. 11. The first filming was the one Turiczek attended, which Barrymore’s writing staff picketed outside.
After Turiczek joined the picket line and posted the situation to his X account — formerly known as Twitter — it went viral.
Writers in the union voiced their experiences of lacking compensation for their labor and facing poor working conditions. Due to a lack of compromise, the strike continued until Wednesday.
Public approval of unions has exponentially risen, perhaps outweighing allegiance to people’s idols. And when it comes to the WGA and Screen Actors Guild strikes, the public is in favor of the unions.
Guilds and unions serve a similar purpose. However, guilds are made of independent contractors instead of employees of the same company. In guilds, separate bargaining units negotiate both internally and with companies.
Although Barrymore herself is not part of the guild, she employs writers who are, which forces them to either protest or cross the picket line.
Over 60 years ago, The Wagner Act was signed into law, allowing labor unions to form to protect people against powerful bosses. Even then, kinship and pride within a labor union were strong. In many instances, picket lines and strikes were broken up with violence by strikebreakers hired by anti-union bosses.
Barrymore’s experience in Hollywood of mistreatment and abuse is just one of many in the entertainment industry. While Barrymore was a child, she was subjected to the celebrity party scene filled with drugs and alcohol.
She recently used her platform to speak about her trauma, creating a safe and welcoming place on her talk show. However, after she chose to cross the picket line, many of her most diehard supporters criticized her and labeled her against the guild.
With the combination of the rise of cancel culture, the lasting fellowship of labor unions against scabs, and the WGA utilizing social media to further inspire sympathy for writers, Barrymore’s likability couldn’t overcome the tradition of ostracizing strikebreakers.
Barrymore uploaded a now-deleted, tearful apology video to her Instagram account on Sept. 15. Barrymore apologized for scabbing and took full responsibility for her actions, yet stood by her choice to return.
After Barrymore got backlash from fans, critics, and other celebrities for the video apology, she deleted it and uploaded a note to Instagram. She announced the show would be suspended until the strike was over, and the Internet let out a sigh of relief. The backlash reversed her decision to scab and hurt her writers.
It is interesting to note, that the strike finally ended after four months with the studios’ reputations on the ground. Between a studio breaking the law by cutting trees which provided shade for protesters and Disney CEO Bob Iger’s out-of-touch comments about the strike, the public is very critical of these studios.
The backlash Barrymore received must have been a wake-up call for those in the industry. Barrymore, who was such a beloved celebrity, permanently altered her legacy by scabbing. Although, she wasn’t the first to scab, her crossing the picket line caught the most attention from the public.
It was not the core reason for the strike ending, but if Barrymore couldn’t even avoid cancellation due to scabbing, companies who prolonged the strike by refusing to come to the table would never recover their reputations.
Nadia Hill can be reached at [email protected].
