American actress and talk show host Drew Barrymore has been facing criticism for returning to work on The Drew Barrymore Show during the ongoing writers’ and actors’ strikes. Similarly, Jennifer Aniston also received backlash on social media. Production for the show’s third season concluded in April 2023, just before the start of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike in early May. While some mistakenly believed that the show had suspended operations in support of the strike, it was actually on its customary summer break.
When Barrymore announced that her talk show would be resuming on Monday, September 18, it caused confusion and drew criticism. A post on Instagram by Barrymore received likes from celebrities like Jennifer Aniston, Cara Delevingne, Jennifer Garner, Lily Collins, and Kristen Bell. However, by Wednesday, Jennifer Garner and Kristen Bell unliked the post, while Aniston, Delevingne, and Collins still liked it.
Rebecca Norfolk, a voice actor, shared a screenshot of Barrymore’s Instagram post and the list of celebrities who liked it, triggering a wave of backlash. Norfolk captioned the post, “V interesting which celebs liked Drew Barrymore’s scabbing Insta post.” Soon after, netizens started criticizing Aniston. One user commented, “Jenn Aniston needs to watch her double-tapping lately,” prompting Aniston to respond, “This is why she’s been so concerned about being cancelled – she can’t control her likes.”
Some netizens speculated that celebrities may have automated likes set up on their accounts. Meanwhile, another commenter defended Barrymore’s choice, stating that the eagerness of actors to return to work was the reason behind their likes. Norfolk disagreed, saying, “Yeah, obviously, but you don’t cross a picket line and you don’t scab.”
Overall, both Jennifer Aniston and Cara Delevingne faced criticism for liking Drew Barrymore’s post about her show’s return amidst the ongoing strikes.