Drew Barrymore is off TV after a PR debacle amid the Hollywood strikes. Meanwhile, Whoopi Goldberg remains on “The View” — and critics want to know why.
Goldberg, a SAG-Aftra member and celebrated member of the EGOT club (having won an Emmy, Golden Globe, Oscar and a Tony), has been co-hosting the ABC show throughout the writer and actor strikes that have left the entertainment industry reeling.
“I’ve come to the conclusion that Whoopi and the other hosts of ‘The View’ are indeed scabbing,” actor Josh Malina, of “Scandal” and “West Wing” fame, told Pvnew.
Barrymore was torn to shreds on social media last week after announcing her plans to bring back her daytime endeavor, “The Drew Barrymore Show,” leading her to quickly — and tearfully — reverse course.
But X user @SDavid3388 tweeted: “Funny that people didn’t do the same with other talk show hosts! People in America are such hypocrites. They’re hating Drew Barrymore but not Whoopi Goldberg for example on The View! If you want to call her a SCAB call everyone a scab!”
Said Molina: “Consider: ‘The View’ has been picketed by the WGA from day one. Also, the show normally employs two members of the union who are now on strike. If you cross a picket line to go do your job, and then do the work of a picketing union member — in this case … even jotting down a question to ask a guest — in my book, that’s being a scab.”
Pvnew has reached out to Goldberg and ABC for comment.
A Writers Guild of America spokesperson told Pvnew Wednesday it would continue to picket “The View” and would be outside the show’s NYC studios Thursday and Friday, saying: “The Guild has picketed and will continue to picket struck shows that are in production during the strike.”
The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has been on strike since May over pay, the size of writing staff on shows and the use of artificial intelligence in scripts.
The actors’ union, SAG-Aftra joined them in July for a host of issues, including fighting for a share of streaming revenue.
In July, Goldberg explained why she and her co-hosts are still at the table, despite the actress herself being a SAG member.
“Like the soap operas and game shows and news shows, we work under a different kind of contract which is called the ‘network code,’ which means that we are allowed to continue on,” she explained.
“As we’re not actors at the table acting ‘The View,’ it’s a different kind of context. So that’s why we’re still able to work.”
But Goldberg now appears to be in critics’ sight as Dan Signer, a member of the WGA, praised Bill Maher for reversing his decision to bring back his HBO show “Real Time” during the strike.
Signer tweeted: “Another one! Way to go, @billmaher! You’re up,@TheView #WhoopiGoldberg @JoyVBehar.” Signer also included the rest of Goldberg’s co-stars.
An ABC source said that “The View” is not affected because it is primarily unscripted — so while the show does have two writers, no one has done the WGA members’ job since the strike began.
Goldberg and her co-hosts have been hand writing their own cue cards and links since then, with the star reminding viewers regularly that they fully support the writers’ requests for a fair contract.
On September 10, Barrymore, 48, announced she was bringing back her show amidst the strike, declaring, “I own this choice.”
But she was quickly ripped to shreds on social media — with Rosie O’Donnell telling her to “Stop taping the show” — and dropped as the host of the National Book Awards. A week later, Barrymore appeared shaky and tearful in an Instagram video as she said: “I have listened to everyone, and I am making the decision to pause the show’s premiere until the strike is over.”
As Barrymore continues to lick her wounds in private, one well-placed Hollywood TV exec told The Post: “I feel bad for Drew, but I think she made mistakes.”
Following Barrymore’s apology, “The Jennifer Hudson Show” and “The Kelly Clarkson Show” have both delayed their returns to air. CBS’ “The Talk” has also paused its return.
Another TV executive told The Post: “Nobody wants to be picketed. Drew tried to do the best for her staff and I think the hope was that Kelly and Jennifer would follow her lead.
“They should have all banded together, like the late night hosts [Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert], who are all very unified — they’ve been together every step of the way and they will all come back together.”
Still, the executive admitted: “Everybody is so nervous. Every decision is being made with the thought of social media in mind — no one wants to be at the mercy of Twitter.”
