Drew Barrymore stops show to comfort crying audience member

Drew Barrymore has warmed hearts after stopping her talk show to comfort a crying audience member.

In a video posted to Instagram on 25 May, The Drew Barrymore Show host was seen filming her daytime talk show when she paused production after noticing an emotional fan in the audience.

“Are you okay? Did anything happen? Whose a** do I have to kick?” she asked, as she walked over to the tearful fan who later shared her name was Olivia. When Olivia’s friend explained, "She loves you so much,” Barrymore replied: “Oh, thank God it’s nothing bad.”

Olivia told the Charlie’s Angels star that she was her “childhood idol” but didn’t want to be “that person” to cry in front of their favourite celebrity. However, Barrymore encouraged the fan to let it all out.

“Oh, screw that! Be that person,” she quipped.

At that point, the Never Been Kissed star joined Olivia in the stands and sat on her lap, saying: “I don’t know why I have the urge to do this.”

As the two hugged, Barrymore expressed to Olivia that she was just as happy to meet one of her fans. “This is just such an honour for me to meet you,” she said, before joking that her breath smelled like dumplings.

“It’s so funny that you would say, ‘Oh, I don’t want to cry here.’ I cry here all the time,” Barrymore assured her.

In the comments section of the post, many fans shared their love for Drew Barrymore’s kind gesture.

“This is literally the sweetest thing,” said one person, while another wrote: ”Why did this make ME cry?”

“I feel like Drew sitting on my lap would permanently rewire my brain and cure my lifelong existential angst and insomnia and anxiety,” joked someone else.

Drew Barrymore has been known to get up close and personal with many of her talk show guests. In one episode of The Drew Barrymore Show, she knelt in front of trans TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney as she opened up about finding joy in the transgender community. During a segment with actor Brooke Shields, Barrymore sat cross-legged on the couch as they bonded over their difficult childhoods. And she recently held hands with singer Chloe Bailey while discussing their struggles with imposter syndrome.

Last April, Barrymore explained that her intimate interview style is caused by a “magnetic pull” she feels with her guests.

“I love doing the show so much. I get to learn from people every day,” she told Jimmy Fallon during an appearance on The Tonight Show. “I get to have these incredible conversations that I definitely take something away. It’s always improving my life, it’s profound, it’s fun.”

“I love people. I love every human being on the planet,” Barrymore added. “I’m fascinated and everyone has a story and every person is exceptional and interesting. And it is so fun to literally get to be a conversationalist at work. It’s the coolest thing in the world.”