Drew Barrymore Cancels MTV Movie & TV Awards Hosting Plans Due to Writers' Strike

By Aaron Perine

MTV Movie & TV Awards host Drew Barrymore will no longer be headlining the show. Variety reports that the talk show host will be stepping down in support of the Writers Guild of America. As a make-up to MTV, Barrymore will be coming back for next year's MTV Movie & TV Awards to host as part of their agreement. Sunday night's show will go on as planned. As of now, there are no plans for a host to replace Drew Barrymore. But, even more interestingly, there will be a lot of eyes on who plans to show up and present or be a guest at the festivities. Now, there will be no red carpet interviews or time with the talent before the show. Here's what she had to say.

"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," Barrymore wrote. "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," she continued. "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."

MTV Shows Support For Barrymore Stepping Down

"Drew, without question, she's been incredible. It's hard to imagine that we've ever had a better experience with a host," Bruce Gillmer, Paramount Global President of music, music talent, programming and events said in a written statement to Variety. "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."

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"So she's not going to be with us live in the house for the show and we will essentially be going hostless," he continued. "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."

Will you be watching the MTV Movie & TV Awards? Let us know down in the comments!

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