MTV Movie & TV Awards Pivots to Pre-Taped Special After Writers Guild Plans Strike Picket
UPDATED: The MTV Movie & TV Awards will no longer be live on Sunday, as the show pivots to a pre-tape in light of the writers strike. “As we carefully navigate how best to deliver the fan first awards’ show we envisioned that our team has worked so hard to create, we’re pivoting away from a live event that still enables us to produce a memorable night full of exclusive sneak peaks, irreverent categories our audience has come to expect, and countless moments that will both surprise and delight as we honor the best of film and TV over the past year,” said Bruce Gillmer, president of music, music talent, programming and events at Paramount Global, and an executive producer of the MTV Movie & TV Awards, in a statement.
The decision to pivot to a pre-tape came as attendees began to go public that they would no longer attend. That included presenter Jamie Lee Curtis, who wrote on Instagram: “I’m not gonna be able to go and present because the @wgawest needs and deserves my support and I won’t cross their picket line.”
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PREVIOUSLY: The MTV Movie & TV Awards may still be going on this Sunday without the services of host Drew Barrymore, but the Writers Guild has taken notice. In a short press release on Friday, the guild announced that it would picket outside Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, where the kudocast is set to take place on May 7, at 5 p.m. PT.
MTV had already scrapped a red carpet before the show, in the hopes that the awards show would stay off the radar of any pickets. As Variety wrote exclusively on Thursday, Barrymore opted to step down as host of this year’s MTV Movie & TV Awards, in a show of support and solidarity to the striking Writers Guild members. She instead agreed to return and host next year’s edition of the kudocast instead.
“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. “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.
The now-hostless show continues to evolve as producers wait and see who among their presenters, nominees and guests are still willing and able to appear on the telecast. That includes “The White Lotus” star Jennifer Coolidge, who is slated to receive the ‘Comedic Genius’ award.
Executive producer Bruce Gillmer previously told Variety that the show will include some pre taped acceptance speeches for winners, but the producers are also treading lightly in working with talent as they decide whether to still attend. The originally announced list of presenters included Tiffany Haddish, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dave Burd (“Lil Dicky”), Gal Gadot, Rodrigo Santoro and Sarah Michelle Gellar. Also “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” stars Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback; “Yellowjackets” stars Courtney Eaton, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Liv Hewson, Samantha Hanratty, Sophie Nélisse and Sophie Thatcher; and “Joy Ride” stars Ashley Park, Sabrina Wu, Sherry Cola and Stephanie Hsu.
Also originally set to appear: Ayo Edebiri, Havana Rose Liu, Kaia Gerber and Rachel Sennott (“Bottoms”); Camila Morrone, Riley Keough, Sam Claflin and Suki Waterhouse (“Daisy Jones & The Six”); Halle Bailey and Jonah Hauer-King (“The Little Mermaid”).
“We’re going to be super respectful of the talents’ decisions to either be involved in pre tapes, show up or not show up, whatever they decide,” he said. “We’ve got backup plans and coverage just in case, so I guess the short answer is, I’m not sure yet… There’s also athletes and celebrity chefs and all kinds of other talent that are not squarely affected. So we’ll be going down that road. We will be looking for some live talent in the room to help tell the story, but not host segments per se. We also have a very charismatic VO artist with us, so stay tuned. It’s all unfolding in real time.”
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