According to an exclusive with Variety, Drew Barrymore (The Drew Barrymore Show) will not be hosting the MTV Movie & TV Awards in support of the current writer’s strike. Although she is stepping down Barrymore has stated that she will host next year’s edition of the kudocast instead. The Sunday night award show will still continue without a host as the producers put into effect their strike contingency plans. This includes waiting to see which presenters, nominees, and even guests are willing to appear at the awards, as well as no longer offering red carpet interviews before the ceremony.
In a statement, Barrymore said, “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. 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.”
According to Variety, Barrymore will still be seen on this Sunday’s show as host as she has already been part of many pre-recorded short films for the telecast which are still expected to air.
Bruce Gillmer, the president of music, music talent, programming, and events at Paramount Global, and an executive producer of the MTV Movie & TV Awards said, “Drew, without question, she’s been incredible. It’s hard to imagine that we’ve ever had a better experience with a host. She’s 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.’’
He continued, “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.”
The 2023 MTV Movie & TV Awards will still air on May 7th at 8 PM EDT.