Passionfruit newsletter: RIP my idolization of Drew Barrymore

Issue #167 | Sept. 12, 2023

As a baby of the late 1990s, I first met Drew Barrymore as a fairy princess in “Ever After.” She was my grungey teenage fashion mentor. And as a fellow little girl frightened and delighted by extraterrestrials, I loved her in “E.T.” My parasocial relationship with Barrymore has been one of my last remaining tethers to the celebrity icons of my childhood. Now, I, unfortunately, must say, rest in peace.

To many creators’ disappointments, “The Drew Barrymore Show” announced it will resume filming for its fourth season this week—disobeying the ongoing Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike rules. To be clear, most daytime talk shows like Barrymore’s are currently unaffected by the ongoing strike. Unlike late-night shows, most of these shows don’t employ union writers. However, “The Drew Barrymore Show” does employ a handful of WGA staffers, thus qualifying it as a struck project. 

Barrymore herself seemed a bit confused on Instagram about whether the move to continue her show disobeyed the strike’s rules, though it’s now clear she is in violation. On Sunday, the WGA announced plans to picket the show’s taping this week. In a shocking update today, two Barrymore fans attending the show’s recording also came forward and said they were kicked out of the studio for wearing WGA pins handed to them by picketers outside.

It’s hard to believe Barrymore is a scab. The child star, propelled to fame through Spielberg’s “E.T.” at age 7...

– Grace Stanley, Newsletter and Features Editor

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