In the wake of the Writers' Guild of America strike, which is currently ongoing and causing carnage across Hollywood,Drew Barrymoreis stepping down as host of this year’s MTV Movie & TV Awards,in a show of support and solidarity to the striking Writers' Guild members.However, as a show of good faith towards the network, Barrymore has agreed to host the show in 2024 instead, once the strike has ended and the writers given what is owed to them. In a statement obtained byVariety, Barrymore said:
I have listened to the writers, and to truly respect them, I will pivot from hosting the MTV Movie & TV Awards live in solidarity with the strike. 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 but I’ll be watching from home and hope you will join me. I thank MTV, who has truly been some of the best partners I have ever worked with. 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.
Barrymore won’t be appearing live at the show, but will still appear in pre-taped short films which will air throughout the telecast. The network was sympathetic and supportive of her stance, withBruce Gillmer,the president of music, music talent, programming and events at Paramount Global, and an executive producer of theMTV Movie & TV Awards, adding:
“[Drew] has been more of a partner really, she’s in it every day, just super passionate and super engaged and creative. She even bought some of her own team along for the journey. So when this all reared its head, we started to prepare for what could be. She is not surprisingly, standing in solidarity with the writers, which we have full respect for. She has our full support. So she’s not going to be with us live in the house for the show and we will essentially be going hostless. The silver lining in all of this is that we really formed a partnership almost a family-like atmosphere. 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.”
RELATED:Elizabeth Olsen, Brett Goldstein and More Hollywood Stars Offer Support to Striking Writers
Why Are the Writers Striking?
The WGA is arguing that the writers are not seeing their fair of residual payments as a result of streaming platforms.If a TV show is broadcast on regular television and streaming, the latter is paid for in significantly smaller amounts. For streamers, writers are paid a flat fee regardless of success but broadcast television uses a “reward-for-success” model that means if a show is a hit, writers can earn more in residuals.
Streaming services are also dropping older shows from their back catalogue, meaning writers can no longer earn money from them, and they are ordering shorter seasons -in network television’s heyday, the likes ofFriends, ER, Seinfeld, 24, Lostand more would see 24-episode orders per season. Now, it’s more common to see a maximum of 13-episode orders, with most major shows around 8-to-10 episodes.
The WGA is also campaigning for a higher salary floor and for regulation on the use of artificial intelligence in scriptwriting, asking the AMPTP for a guarantee that it won’t be “used as source material”.
