A wild weekend for Drew Barrymore

Following name-calling, tears, and apologies, The Drew Barrymore Show has cancelled plans to return amid the writers strike.

First Drew Barrymore announced she would bring her daytime talk show back, sans writers. At the time she insisted that “I own this choice.”

Then over the weekend after a week of being called a scab for crossing the picket line, she got very teary and posted a video to Instagram:

“I wanted to own a decision, so that it wasn’t a PR-protected situation, and I would just take full responsibility for my actions.”

A tearful Barrymore continued, “I know there is just nothing I can do that will make this OK to those that it is not OK with. I fully accept that. I fully understand that. There are so many reasons why this is so complex, and I just want everyone to know my intentions have never been in a place to upset or hurt anymore. It’s not who I am. I’ve been through so many ups and downs in my life, and this is one of them,” she said through tears.

“I deeply apologize to writers. I deeply apologize to unions,” Barrymore said.

“There’s a huge question of the why — why am I doing this?” she continued. “Well, I certainly couldn’t have expected this kind of attention, and we aren’t going to break rules and we will be in compliance. I wanted to do this, because as I said, this is bigger than me and there are other people’s jobs on the line.”

The rest of the weekend has Barrymore being mocked for the video, prompting her to, I guess, take ownership of the apology video and deleted it.

News this morning is that The Drew Barrymore Show will be paused until after the strike. A good decision for all involved. Except for the staff whose jobs are now at threat. Hopefully the AMPTP pull their finger out and get back to the negotiating table.

While Bill Maher is bringing his show back too without the writing team, the fallout regarding The Drew Barrymore Show will stop other chat/comedy shows from making a return. Already, in the hours following the Barrymore announcement, we have seen Jennifer Hudson’s chat show pause its return, along with a delay for The Talk.

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Minhaj fallout

Despite an expose in The New Yorker by Clare Malone revealing that comedian Hasan Minhaj had made up a number of stories that feature in his act, the comedian is still on the shortlist to take over hosting The Daily Show when it returns.

Among the fabricated stories… [this excerpt is from Rolling Stone]:

…including being dumped by a prom date because of the color of his skin; that he’d recognized an FBI informant who’d been surveilling Muslim people in his community; that he received an envelope with white powder that he thought was anthrax and accidentally spilled it on his daughter, leading him to rush her to the hospital; and that he’d had a meeting at the Saudi Embassy in Washington, D.C., on the same day that journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered (the meeting happened at least a month prior). In seemingly every instance, Minhaj portrayed himself to be a victim of racism, heroic in the face of it, or both.

Minhaj responded to the allegations:

“You have got to take the shots you are given in life, even if they’re built on a lie… The emotional truth is first. The factual truth is secondary.”

This isn’t the same as a comedian getting on stage telling stories about their marriage, “Take my wife please.” The stakes are too high, the issues discussed too important.

Minhaj has built a career shouting down race-based injustice and these stories supported his broader narrative around the victimisation he has been subject to. Audiences took Minhaj at his word and there was no suggestion that the stories were all just part of the show.

• Top Gear is finished for good. Following last year’s serious crash involving Freddie Flintoff, the show’s production team has been quietly dismantled. Read: Radio Times

• The reboot of The Wonder Years has been cancelled after two seasons. Read: THR

• Billy Miller has died at the age of 43. The Young and The Restless star was also well-known for long-running roles on General Hospital and All My Children. Read: THR

• Russell Brand revealed to be a real piece of shit following a Channel 4 documentary investigation. Read: The Guardian

• Australian streaming news service Ticker is expanding its service to add five FAST channels. Read: Mediaweek

• A colour version of Werewolf by Night will debut on Disney+ Oct 20. Read: Dark Horizons

Joe Pera has a standup special he has recorded. It’ll debut on Oct 6 via YouTube.

Momento Mori is coming soon to Prime Video.

A six-episode police thriller will explore the relationship between a murderer, played by Yon González, and the police officer played by Francisco Ortiz, who pursues him in a life or death duel, helped by the peculiar Carapocha, played by Juan Echanove.

The Conference debuts Oct 13 on Netflix.

What begins as team-building fun, descends into a nightmare as a mysterious masked killer begins stalking and picking off the participants one by one.

Ljobon debuts on Netflix Oct 13.

Four teenagers from a rural village in South-West Nigeria stumble upon a pouch of uncut diamonds - but before long, others come looking for the bounty.

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That’s the newsletter for today. It’ll be back tomorrow.