Drew Carey says paying hefty food bill during WGA strike ‘was the right thing to do’

Drew Carey is known for handing out large amounts of cash on The Price Is Right to the game show’s various winners.

The actor, comedian, and game show host also admitted to making millions of dollars from his former sitcom, The Drew Carey Show.

He credits the show writers for helping him do that, so it’s no surprise that he generously spent money to help out writers during the Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) strike.

He racked up a hefty ongoing tab to cover that large food bill but wouldn’t stop paying during the strike.

It even resulted in a call from his accountant suggesting he stop spending so much money on that.

While hosting the WGA Awards ceremony this past weekend, Carey commented on why he paid the food bill during the strike, calling it “the right thing to do.”

Carey said writers’ deserve all the money’ they get

While holding a plate of food on stage at the WGA Awards, host Drew Carey indicated he’d previously spent about $67,000 to cover food bills during a writer’s strike in 2004.

Fast-forward to the 2023 WGA strike, and the cost was much higher. However, Carey generously paid the writers’ meal tab at Bob’s Big Boy and Swingers in Los Angeles throughout the strike, regardless of the total cost.

“I didn’t know it was going to cost me so much money,” he admitted, adding, “The last time, I think the total bill was like $67,000, fifteen years ago. I thought it was going to be about the same thing, but then some of you decided, ‘Oh yeah, I’m going to get a shake and dessert.'”

Carey said that when his accountant called to advise him that the ongoing tab was becoming quite large, he chose to keep paying.

“I already said I would, and I’m gonna do it. It’s the right thing to do,” he said he told his accountant.

Carey cited the success of his sitcom and how writers have helped many other actors make good money as his reasons for helping out.

“You writers, well, not all of you, The Drew Carey Show writers — made me a f***ing million. Everybody in this room makes some actor a million. And you deserve all the money you get,” he said during Sunday’s award ceremony.

Carey celebrated the ‘real heroes’ of the strike

Carey said he didn’t need applause or praise for covering those food bills, as it was the right thing to do. He then mentioned a conversation he had with his friend, who was affected by the ongoing WGA strike.

“I have a comic friend of mine I was talking to, who writes,” Carey said, continuing, “She said, ‘You know I talked to my agent, he said, You’re gonna lose your house over this maybe?’ and she said, ‘Fine, I’ll lose my house.'”

“Those are the real heroes. The ones who put everything on the line,” he told the audience at the WGA Award ceremony.

According to The New York Times, the Writers Guild of America represents 11,500 screenwriters. The strike lasted from May 2 to September 27, 2023, over a labor dispute with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).

The WGA strike affected the entertainment landscape, halting or postponing many projects, including daytime talk shows, late-night shows, television series, and new movies.

Carey, 65, currently hosts The Price Is Right on weekdays. Prior to that, he starred in his sitcom The Drew Carey Show for nine seasons from 1995 to 2004 on ABC. Various networks have shown re-runs of the program since then.