Rosie O’Donnell shared three pieces of “advice” for Drew Barrymore as the talk show host faces backlash for crossing the picket line amid the writers strike.
O’Donnell, who once had her own talk show before her time on “The View,” posted a screenshot of an essay from Elizabeth Grey who gave her two cents on Barrymore resuming production of her show.
“Stop taping the show. Stop asking audiences to cross the picket line,” read part of the essay that O’Donnell shared to her Instagram on Saturday.
“Then ask someone to help you craft three declarative sentences. They should follow along these lines: I made an error. I apologize to the WGA for disrespecting the work of professional writers. I apologize to all union members who are withstanding real hardship as I live a life of luxury.”
O’Donnell captioned the post “advice 4 @drewbarrymore” alongside a heart emoji.
O’Donnell joins a number of others in the entertainment industry who have chastised the host after she announced last week that filming would begin for the new season of “The Drew Barrymore Show” even as the show’s writers were on strike.
Barrymore initially showed solidarity with striking writers when she ditched her gig hosting the MTV Movie and TV Awards back in May.
Writers Guild of America members began their strike that month in an effort to get a fair share of streaming profits and for protections around the use of artificial intelligence. (GME’s unionized staff members are also represented by the WGA East.)
The WGA, in a statement last week, wrote that Barrymore’s show is a “WGA-covered, struck show” and any writing is a violation of its strike rules. A spokesperson for CBS told GME that the show would “not be performing any writing work covered by the WGA strike.”
Barrymore’s announcement led to the National Book Foundation taking back its invitation for her to host its award ceremony this year.
The host attempted to defend the decision to resume production on her show in a since-deleted video shared to her Instagram on Friday.
Actors including Bradley Whitford and Debra Messing criticized her over the clip, with Whitford writing that the host “would like you to know that undermining union solidarity at the most crucial moment in Hollywood labor history makes her the victim.”
The WGA, in a statement to multiple outlets following Barrymore’s video, wrote that the host “should not be on the air while her writers are on strike fighting for a fair deal.”
“Shows like this cannot operate without writing, and that is struck work,” the statement continued.
