Drew Barrymore has revealed she’s out as the MTV Movie & TV Awards show host just ahead of the annual ceremony’s presentation.
The award-winning actress and talk show host was revealed as the show host back in March. However, she recently released a statement indicating she was dropping out as host.
Barrymore cited her support for the ongoing writers strike, which is affecting television and movies. The late-night shows and Saturday Night Live were among the first to halt production due to the strike.
The strike officially started earlier this week as the Writers Guild of America (WGA) labor union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) have an ongoing labor dispute.
It’s considered the most significant interruption to affect television and motion pictures since 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic caused productions to halt across many projects.
Due to Barrymore’s quick exit as host of the show, it would seem to jeopardize things regarding the awards show presentation, which has typically had one or more hosts over the years.
Drew Barrymore pulls out of MTV hosting gig ‘in solidarity’ with writers
The MTV Movie & TV Awards 2023 edition is set to take place this coming weekend, with the presentation initially scheduled for Sunday, May 7.
A Variety exclusive revealed that Drew Barrymore pulled out of the hosting duties in support of the writers strike.
“I have listened to the writers, and in order to truly respect them, I will pivot from hosting the MTV Movie & TV Awards live in solidarity with the strike,” she said in a statement, per Variety.
“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,” Barrymore said.
While Barrymore won’t appear as the 2023 MTV Movie & TV Awards host, she revealed she will return to host the show in 2024.
“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,” she said.
Along with Variety’s report, Barrymore shared a screenshot of the article and provided a message to fans and followers about her involvement in the show and support of the Writers Guild of America.
“I love the @mtvawards family and we will be back next year together. I hope you still watch the awards with me Sunday, as it has such wonderful moments to enjoy. I stand with the @wgaeast @wgawest,” she wrote in an Instagram caption.
MTV also provided an update on their website as of May 5 at 10 a.m. Eastern Time to share the news of Barrymore’s exit as the show host.
“Drew Barrymore is no longer hosting the 2023 MTV Movie & TV Awards. She will return to host the ceremony in 2024,” MTV’s update read.
Barrymore currently has her self-titled talk show, The Drew Barrymore Show. According to TV Insider, the CBS Media Ventures’ production has already wrapped for the season, so it should be unaffected by the strike.
The report indicates that CBS’ The Talk seems to be the only daytime show affected so far, as it has gone dark.
Who is the 2023 MTV Movie & TV Awards host?
The MTV Movie & TV Awards have been held nearly every year since 1992, with various celebrities taking the stage as hosts. The debut ceremony featured comedian and SNL alum Dennis Miller as host, with Eddie Murphy hosting in 1993 and Will Smith in 1994.
The show has also had multiple editions with more than one host, including in 1995 with Jon Lovitz and Courteney Cox and, more recently, in 2022 with Vanessa Hudgens and Tayshia Adams.
Other hosts over the years have included Lindsay Lohan, Jimmy Fallon, Jessica Alba, Conan O’Brien, Amy Schumer, Tiffany Haddish, and Zachary Levi.
As mentioned above, there was another major stoppage of production within Hollywood in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. That brought many shows to a halt and not to air as expected, including that year’s MTV Movie & TV Awards.
The show was originally to be hosted by Vanessa Hudgens, but the ceremony wasn’t held due to the circumstances at the time. Instead, MTV aired a Greatest of All Time special.
According to Variety’s report, this year’s awards show will still take place but will be “hostless” and have a different presentation than it previously has. Bruce Gillmer, the president of music, music talent, programming, and events at Paramount Global and an executive producer of the MTV Movie & TV Awards, spoke about the situation.
He said some of the previously-scheduled presenters, performers, or nominees might not be there, but awards will still be handed out.
“We’re working on a plan on how to do that without the traditional presentation involved, should the talent or some of the talent not show. We’ve got backups to our backups. And we’re planning on keeping as many of the signature elements of the show intact. We will have a live audience and it will still be a live event. Different, with more pre-taped packages and so forth, which are scalable, but it’ll still have that live event feel,” Gillmer said.
While she’s no longer hosting, Barrymore may still appear as part of the show as she filmed several pre-taped short film pieces or other elements for the awards show. And while some initially expected guests might not show up, the show will still go on, with fans able to watch the changed-up presentation on MTV.
The MTV Movie & TV Awards 2023 airs Sunday, May 7 at 8/7c on MTV.