Drew Barrymore ditches MTV Movie & TV Awards hosting gig days before show set to go live
The red carpet has also been cancelled.
Drew Barrymore has revealed she has declined to host the MTV Movie & TV Awards only days before the event in solidarity with the Writers Guild of America strike.
She confirmed she has ditched the hosting gig on her talk show, The Drew Barrymore Show, on Thursday.
In a statement to Access Hollywood.
"I have listened to the writers, and in order to truly respect them, I will pivot from hosting the MTV Movie and TV Awards live in solidarity with the strike," Barrymore said.
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"Everything we celebrate and honor about movies and television is born out of their creation. And until a solution is reached, I am choosing to wait."
She added: "But I’ll be watching from home on Sunday night and I hope everyone else will as well."
The awards night is understood to still be going ahead without a host.
Barrymore thanked MTV in her statement to Access Hollywood, revealing she is looking forward to taking part next year.
"I thank MTV who has truly been some of the best partners I have ever worked with," Barrymore said.
"And I can’t wait to be a part of this next year, when I can truly celebrate everything that MTV has created, which is a show that allows fans to choose who the awards go to and is truly inclusive."
The red carpet portion of the night has also been nixed as Hollywood is thrown into chaos as the strike continues.
Executive producer of the MTV Movie & TV Awards Bruce Gillmer told Variety that MTV's night of nights will now carry on without a host.
"So [Drew’s] not going to be with us live in the house for the show and we will essentially be going hostless," he said.
"The silver lining in all of this is that we really formed a partnership, almost a family-like atmosphere. He added: "So we see this as a shift in direction, but also a pause for the initial plan, which we’ve all agreed and she’s accepted to continue as our host in 2024."
The MTV Movie & TV Awards is the first award show scheduled since the Writers Guild of America went on strike as of Monday (May 1).
Hollywood writers are demanding fairer pay from their mega-studio employers, which has basically thrown a massive wrench into people's TV-watching habits.
Late-night shows were immediately shut down and the futures of other TV series have been thrown into doubt because without people to write them there's no show at all.
Topics: MTV, Film and TV, Entertainment, Drew Barrymore
Rachel Lang