The Drew Barrymore Show WGA writers reject offer to return

Drew Barrymore's daytime talk show is returning for its fourth season — but its three WGA writers won't be part of the staff.

EW has learned that The Drew Barrymore Show offered Chelsea White, Cristina Kinon, and Liz Koe — the only three WGA-member writers on the show's staff from the previous season — have declined offers to rejoin the show upon its return. The show offered all three writers new contracts as soon as was allowed after the WGA strike's conclusion, and in the wake of their declination, the show is interviewing new writers and will proceed in compliance with the guild's standards.

The show is set to return on Oct. 16.

Barrymore upset the WGA last month by announcing her show's return while these three writers remained on strike. After significant criticism, the host reversed the decision and elected to pause production until the WGA strike concluded.

White and Kinon did not immediately respond to EW's request for comment, and while EW couldn't locate contact information for Koe, she declined to comment on The Hollywood Reporter's story.

The WGA officially concluded its five-month strike last week and its members will vote on approving the new minimum contract this week.

Kinon previously said that Barrymore's initial return announcement was "frustrating, because it will prolong the strike, and we just want it to end," according to an interview with The Daily Beast. "We're all trying to make a career out of writing, and the AMPTP is trying to slowly chip away at that. And they wouldn't have anything without writers; writers are the seed of all of creation."

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