Drew Barrymore Will No Longer Host the MTV Movie & TV Awards

With just days to go until the 2023 MTV Movie & TV Awards, the award show has lost its host. Drew Barrymore will no longer helm the May 7 event, her rep confirmed to POPSUGAR. Variety was the first to report the news, noting the decision was made in support of the current Writers Guild strike.

“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 said in a statement to POPSUGAR. “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.”

The show at Los Angeles’s Barker Hanger will still go on, a source tells POPSUGAR, though there will be no red carpet and it’s unclear which presenters will still participate. Previously announced presenters included Dominique Fishback, Kaia Gerber, Camila Morrone, Riley Keough, Sam Claflin, Suki Waterhouse, Halle Bailey, Tiffany Haddish, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Sarah Michelle Gellar.

The writers strike began this week when members of the WGA, the labor union that most employed writers in Hollywood belong to, stopped working until the organization reaches an agreement with the AMPTP, which negotiates on behalf of all major studios and hundreds of production companies. During this time, no members are allowed to write or sell new scripts.