Wearing WGA Pins, 2 Get Kicked Out of Barrymore Taping

Rep says Barrymore herself didn't know anything about it
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 12, 2023 1:56 AM CDT
Audience Members With Union Pins Kicked Out of Barrymore Taping
Drew Barrymore appears at the 24th Annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on March 19, 2023, in Washington. Barrymore will host the National Book Awards, where Oprah Winfrey will be a guest speaker.   (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf, File)

Two would-be audience members at Monday's controversial taping of The Drew Barrymore Show were kicked out because they were wearing WGA pins. Dominic Turiczek and Cassidy Carter, students in New York City, didn't realize the Hollywood strike was going on when they scored free tickets to the show, but when they arrived, WGA picketers outside the studio handed them pins stating "Writers Guild on Strike," they told the Hollywood Reporter. They put them on and then were asked to remove them when they went through security; Carter did, but Turiczek still had his on as they entered the studio—and when a crewmember saw it, both were asked to leave. They ended up joining the picket line outside, complete with WGA shirts.

"If they think we're part of the strike, we might as well be," Carter said, adding that though she signed up for the tickets because she was a Barrymore fan, "I've been completely alarmed and disheartened by this whole process." A spokesperson for the show says Barrymore had no idea any of this happened and is in the process of offering the duo free tickets to another taping. "It is our policy to welcome everyone to our show tapings. Due to heightened security concerns today, we regret that two audience members were not permitted to attend or were not allowed access," the rep says.

USA Today reports that other talk shows are also starting up again, with The Talk and the Jennifer Hudson Show also reportedly planning to return with new episodes without using WGA writers; the site runs down why some talk shows have continued to air while others have gone dark here. (THR also has a lot more here, including the sentiments of the three WGA writers on Barrymore's show, who were among those picketing Monday. Or, for an explainer on how Barrymore can be in compliance with SAG-AFTRA union rules but not WGA, see an explainer here.)

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