Drew Barrymore dropped as host of awards show amid backlash to her TV series returning

Drew Barrymore has been dropped as the host of an upcoming awards show.

The Charlies Angels star was all set to be the hostess with the mostess at the National Book Foundation annual event.

However, the Foundation has since cancelled their invitation to the 48-year-old.

In a post on social media, the organization said: "The National Book Awards is an evening dedicated to celebrating the power of literature, and the incomparable contributions of writers to our culture.

"In light of the announcement that The Drew Barrymore Show will resume production, the National Book Foundation has rescinded Ms. Barrymore's invitation to host the 74th National Book Awards Ceremony.

An update on the host of the 2023 National Book Awards. pic.twitter.com/aa5aLh0FIU

— National Book Foundation (@nationalbook) September 12, 2023

"Our commitment is to ensure that the focus of the Awards remains on celebrating writers and books, and we are grateful to Ms. Barrymore and her team for their understanding in this situation."

The actor and talkshow host has copped a lot of criticism in recent days after it was revealed her series would resume filming.

While that might not sound like a big deal, there is a huge movement happening in the US at the moment called the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.

Actors and writers are demanding movie and TV studios pay them better, give them better residual conditions and also introduce safeguards to prevent artificial intelligence from making them redundant.

Anyone who is taking part in the strike action or who is supporting the movement has committed to not talking about any project that they've involved in, whether it's past, present or future.

Much of Hollywood's television and film industry has ground to a halt and productions have been put on pause until an agreement can be reached.

However, Barrymore's TV show is one of the rare programmes that is carrying on.

In a statement shared to Instagram, Barrymore defended her decision to 'come back for the first time in this strike'.

She explained she originally 'made a choice to walk away from the MTV, film and television awards because [she] was the host and it had a direct conflict with what the strike was dealing with which was studios, streamers, film, and television'.

"It was also in the first week of the strike and so I did what I thought was the appropriate thing at the time to stand in solidarity with the writers," she adds.

Barrymore argues her talk show 'actually wrapped on 20 April' so they 'never had to shut down the show,' but she's chosen to give it the green light now despite the ongoing strikes because the show is 'bigger than just [her'].

The post continues: "I own this choice. We are in compliance with not discussing or promoting film and television that is struck of any kind. We launched live in a global pandemic.

"Our show was built for sensitive times and has only functioned through what the real world is going through in real time.

"I want to be there to provide what writers do so well, which is a way to bring us together or help us make sense of the human experience.

"I hope for a resolve for everyone as soon as possible. We have navigated difficult times since we first came on air. And so I take a step forward to start season four once again with an astute humility."