Entertainment
Drew Barrymore, The Talk, Even Bill Maher Reverse Scab Plans Amidst Strikes on September 18, 2023 at 9:02 pm The Hollywood Gossip
This summer, we have witnessed entertainment industry event that the world has not seen in generations.
Both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA are striking amidst unthinkable corporate cheating. Executives are paying themselves tens of millions, while using streaming loopholes to pay minuscule residuals to the people who actually make TV and film.
It’s unsustainable. And there are many other issues that desperately need addressing.
Amidst all of this, a few clowns decided to resume their shows — scabbing during the strike. Sadly, Drew Barrymore was among them. Now, at least, she has reversed course and offered a heartfelt apology.
In September of 2023, Drew Barrymore posted an “apology” video to Instagram. She apologized to writers and actors for returning to her show during the historic WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes … but, at the time, still planned to scab. (Instagram)
Please, don’t scab
Last week, The Drew Barrymore Show resumed — an apparent violation of the work stoppage.
Years ago, talk shows could continue in some form during strikes, lining the pockets of networks without their usual content. Those rules have since changed.
Reports came out, describing Barrymore’s security expelling studio audience members who wore strike-related materials.
Patricia Clarkson joins SAG-AFTRA members on the picket line outside of Warner Bros. Discovery on August 10, 2023 in New York. The Emmy Awards have been postponed by almost four months, organizers said Thursday, as crippling strikes by Hollywood’s actors and writers drag on with no resolution in sight. (Getty)
Simply put, the whole point of any sort of strike — such as the one that America’s courageous auto workers recently authorized — is for the people who actually create goods and services and art that generate profit to bargain collectively.
Only a small percentage of actors are millionaires or more. Even a smaller percentage of writers are. The vast majority of SAG-AFTRA actors don’t even make as much as your average first-year teacher.
People who create value should then receive financial compensation for their labor and ingenuity. But with massive companies obsessed with golden parachutes and stockholders, it has become a game of cheating them out of their due.
Drew Barrymore speaks onstage during American Film InstituteÂs 44th Life Achievement Award Gala Tribute show to John Williams at Dolby Theatre on June 9, 2016 (Getty)
We were ALL rooting for you!
Crossing the picket line — literally or metaphorically — hurts strikers. It also, by extension, hurts most Americans.
So when Drew Barrymore, or The Talk, or whatever Bill Maher’s god-awful show is called … when they start filming despite a work stoppage, it helps these corporate behemoths to avoid paying people what they owe them.
In case anyone wondered how valuable actors and writers actually are, Warner Bros Discovery projected a loss of $500 million for 2023. That’s bad, even under Zaslav’s leadership. Agreeing to the guilds’ terms would have cost a fraction of that.
Bill Maher attends the Los Angeles Premiere of LBJ at ArcLight Hollywood on October 24, 2017. (Getty)
No one was rooting for Maher
Long story short, it sucked to hear that Barrymore was filming with scabs instead of her own writers. People felt disappointed in her.
Everyone expected this from Maher. He is a notoriously awful person who will almost invariably take the wrong stance on most issues.
The backlash was intense. And while it was a great opportunity to dunk on Maher, it was a time to bite the bullet and call out Barrymore.
Drew Barrymore attends the 2023 Time100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center on April 26, 2023. (Getty)
Two apologies: a hit and a miss
Late last week, she put out an apology … but did not signal her intent to change course. That was, obviously, not enough.
Now, Barrymore is showing that she has listened to and understood people’s concerns.
“I have listened to everyone, and I am making the decision to pause the show’s premiere until the strike is over,” she wrote on Instagram. Absolutely, it is a good thing that she has listened. We’re sure that many friends reached out to her.
“I have listened to everyone, and I am making the decision to pause the showâs premiere until the strike is over,” Drew Barrymore announced on Instagram, reversing her plans to scab during the historic 2023 WGA/SAG-AFTRA strikes. (Instagram)
“I have no words to express my deepest apologies to anyone I have hurt,” Barrymore continued.
“And, of course,” Barrymore acknowledged, “to our incredible team who works on the show and has made it what it is today.”
Oddly, she wrote: “We really tried to find our way forward.”
John Oliver, winner of the Outstanding Variety Talk Series award for ‘Last Week Tonight with John Oliver’, poses in the press room during the 74th Primetime Emmys. (Getty)
Barrymore affirmed: “And I truly hope for a resolution for the entire industry very soon.”
Previously, she had explained that she was trying to resume work to save the jobs of other people.
For the record, other talk show hosts have formed a podcast, Strike Force Five, to earn money to pay their writers and crews.
Bill Maher often says what’s on his mind. But this has gotten the comedian in trouble a lot over the years. (Getty)
Like we said, a lot of people felt disappointed in Drew Barrymore. Reversing course was the right thing to do, and it’s a relief.
What’s really a sign of the incredible upswell in public opinion is that The Talk and Bill Maher are also reacting to the backlash. Both halted plans to resume business as usual.
As many on social media observed, if Maher is caving, public pressure is an effective tool.
David Zaslav, President and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, attends a premiere in May 2023. Many have dubbed him “the most hated man” in the entertainment industry, and with good reason. (Getty)
There’s only one group of people who can end these strikes, and they’re executives in charge of some of the biggest entertainment industry corporations on the planet.
Instead, many executives planned vacations for this year. Companies have pushed film releases to next year — to a post-strike time when actors can promote their projects.
They can end the strikes by agreeing to reasonable terms from SAG-AFTRA and the WGA. Instead, it appears from the outside that they’d rather continue to lose money out of spite.
Drew Barrymore, The Talk, Even Bill Maher Reverse Scab Plans Amidst Strikes was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.
This summer, we have witnessed entertainment industry event that the world has not seen in generations. Both the WGA and …
Drew Barrymore, The Talk, Even Bill Maher Reverse Scab Plans Amidst Strikes was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.
The Hollywood Gossip Read More
By Bolanle Media | July 2, 2026
Photo: Tyla at the 2026 Met Gala in custom Valentino — days before making the biggest business move of her career.
There are career moves, and then there are statements. Tyla just made a statement that will be studied in music business classrooms for years.
The South African superstar — born Tyla Laura Seethal, 24 years old, and already the proud owner of two Grammy Awards — has officially signed a multi-million dollar global deal with Roc Nation, Jay-Z’s powerhouse entertainment company, walking away from Epic Records to align herself with the most influential roster in the music business. The signing was confirmed across social media with a major digital announcement this week, and the reaction from industry insiders was immediate — shock, admiration, and the quiet acknowledgment that someone just changed the trajectory of African music forever.
From “Water” to a Global Phenomenon
Let’s not forget where this all started. In 2023, a 21-year-old from Johannesburg released a song called “Water” that nobody could quite categorize and everybody needed to hear. Within weeks, it had sparked one of the most viral TikTok dance challenges of the decade, charted simultaneously across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Africa, and earned Tyla a Grammy Award for Best African Music Performance — the first year that category even existed.
That win wasn’t just personal. It was a signal. African music — Afrobeats, Amapiano, and now what Tyla herself calls A*Pop — was no longer knocking at the door of the global mainstream. It had walked through it. And Tyla had handed it the key.
What followed was a whirlwind two years of sold-out shows, magazine covers, red carpet domination, and a growing reputation as one of the most stylistically fearless artists on the planet. She attended the 2026 Met Gala — her third consecutive appearance — wearing a custom Valentino gown dripping in diamond chains with a sweeping teal skirt, styled by the legendary Law Roach, with beauty by Pat McGrath. The look was breathtaking. But it was also strategic. Every Met Gala appearance, every fashion moment, every carefully placed interview has been building toward exactly this: the infrastructure to match the vision.
What Roc Nation Actually Means
To understand why this deal matters, you have to understand what Roc Nation actually is — because it is not simply a record label.
Founded by Jay-Z in 2008, Roc Nation is a full-service entertainment company with divisions spanning artist management, touring, brand partnerships, film and television, sports management, and philanthropy. Its roster has included Rihanna, Alicia Keys, J. Cole, Big Sean, Lil Uzi Vert, and Megan Thee Stallion — artists who didn’t just sell records, but built multi-decade cultural empires that extended into fashion, film, business, and beyond. The through-line isn’t genre. It’s scale.
For Tyla specifically, the Roc Nation deal unlocks a completely different level of access. We’re talking about premium budgets for music videos and live production, top-tier brand partnership pipelines with luxury and lifestyle companies, film and television placement relationships that most artists spend a decade trying to build, and the kind of media weight that gets you on the cover of Vogue, Time, and Billboard in the same calendar year. Roc Nation doesn’t just manage artists — it engineers icons.
On the African music side, Tyla joins fellow Roc Nation signee Ayra Starr, the Nigerian pop star who inked her deal in 2025, deepening the label’s clear and deliberate strategic investment in African pop as the next dominant global genre. Jay-Z is not betting on a trend. He is betting on a generation.
The Album That Could Rewrite the Playbook
The timing of this signing is not accidental — it is surgical.
Tyla’s highly anticipated sophomore album, A*POP, is officially set to drop July 24, 2026, just three weeks away — a 14-track project that she has described as unapologetic, globally ambitious, and deeply rooted in her South African identity while simultaneously reaching for something universal. The lead single “She Did It Again” features Swedish pop titan Zara Larsson, a collaboration that announces in no uncertain terms that Tyla is not staying in any lane she didn’t build herself.
With Roc Nation’s full machine now behind the album rollout — promotional infrastructure, media relationships, tour routing, brand activations — A*POP arrives with a runway that Epic Records simply could not have provided at this scale. The industry is already paying attention. For music supervisors, film and TV executives, brand marketers, and entertainment investors reading this right now — put A*POP on your radar immediately. This is the kind of release that shapes culture, not just charts.
The Bigger Picture Nobody Is Talking About
Here is what gets lost in the excitement of a big announcement: the systemic significance of what Tyla just did.
The music industry’s historical relationship with African artists has been, at best, transactional — major labels slow to invest, quick to cash in on a viral moment, and consistently reluctant to build the kind of long-term infrastructure that turns an artist into a brand. Tyla has navigated that system with remarkable intelligence, refusing to be reduced to a trend, building her artistic identity on her own terms, and now — at 24 — arriving at the negotiating table with enough leverage to choose Roc Nation on her terms.
That matters. Not just for Tyla, but for every African artist watching this unfold from Lagos, Accra, Nairobi, Cape Town, and Houston. It is proof that the path from regional phenomenon to global superstar is not only possible — it is being paved right now, in real time, by a young woman from Johannesburg who refused to shrink.
For media companies, content platforms, entertainment executives, and brand strategists operating in the African diaspora space — this is your data point. African pop is not a niche. It is not a trend. It is not a moment. It is a movement, and Tyla just secured the most powerful co-sign available in the global music business to lead it.
Watch this space. Very closely.
Follow @bolanlemedia on Instagram for real-time music, film, and entertainment industry news. Read more at bolanlemedia.com
AfriqueFest: Pan-African Musical Experience — World Cup Edition is set to take over Noto Houston on Sunday, June 28, bringing together East, South, and West African sounds in one immersive celebration of music, culture, and connection. Presented by Experience Noir and Bolanle Media, the event is designed as a cinematic night for the culture, blending global energy with Houston nightlife in a way that feels elevated, intentional, and deeply rooted in African creativity.
Spotlight on DJ Shinski
At the heart of this year’s experience is DJ Shinski. Born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya and now based in Houston, DJ Shinski has built an international name off high-energy sets that move effortlessly across Afrobeats, Amapiano, hip‑hop, dancehall, reggae, and electronic sounds.
He has also become Africa’s most‑subscribed DJ on YouTube, crossing the 2‑million‑subscriber mark and turning his mixes into a global destination for music lovers.
DJ Shinski’s style is precise but unpredictable: one moment it’s classic Afrobeats, the next it’s East African anthems, then a run of throwback hip‑hop or R&B that still feels fresh. That ability to read a room and connect multiple worlds in a single set is exactly why AfriqueFest is building so much of the night’s energy around him.
At AfriqueFest, DJ Shinski helps drive the Safari Grooves segment, representing East and Central Africa from 4 PM to 6 PM. Expect a journey that moves from Nairobi to Dar es Salaam, Kampala, Addis, and beyond, all filtered through his signature “vibes on vibes” approach behind the decks.
DJ Tunez and the rest of the night
Supporting that energy, DJ Tunez leads the Gold Coast Beats chapter from 8 PM to 10 PM, bringing his own Nigerian‑American Afrobeats pedigree to the stage. Together with the Diamond Rhythms segment (South) and a curated roster of DJs, the night stretches across the continent in three distinct musical chapters, all connected by a single dance floor.
Hosted by @chris_gone_crazy, @kingdrewwskyy, @roselynomaka, and @samsnewleaf, AfriqueFest is positioned as more than a party—it’s a celebration of sound, style, and Pan‑African identity in Houston, with DJ Shinski anchoring the experience from the moment doors open.
Brought to you by Bolanle Media & Experience Noir
Brought to you by Bolanle Media and Experience Noir, this World Cup edition of AfriqueFest is crafted as a night where global DJs, storytellers, and music lovers collide and create a shared cultural memory. With DJ Shinski front and center—and DJ Tunez helping close the night—guests can expect a show that reflects both the future of African nightlife and the power of the diaspora to create unforgettable live moments.
If you want to experience DJ Shinski live at AfriqueFest, now is the time to lock in your spot. Purchase your tickets now at AfriqueFest.com and get ready for a night of music, movement, and culture at Noto Houston.
Laughter Meets Inspiration: Our Ladies Show Lands on The Roku Channel
A bold new sketch comedy series for women premieres June 13 across the U.S., U.K., and Canada — arriving on the back of a festival-winning run that has critics and audiences already paying attention.
It isn’t every day a brand-new comedy arrives already wearing a row of trophies. Our Ladies Show does. The seven-episode inspirational sketch comedy series — created, written by, and starring Christin Jezak — begins streaming on The Roku Channel on Friday, June 13, 2026, available free to viewers in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada.
Produced in partnership with global media services leader Encompass Digital Media, the series sets out to do something rare in today’s streaming landscape: make women laugh out loud and leave them lifted. In a media moment crowded with noise and cynicism, Our Ladies Show is a deliberate counterweight — comedy with a conscience, built for women of every age and background.
A Show Built Around Real Life — and Real Laughs
Each of the seven episodes opens with a monologue from one of the cast members introducing the theme, then rolls into three or more sketches that hit the subject from every comedic angle. The series tackles the things women actually carry: holding grudges, comparison, beauty, patience, gift giving, the importance of community, and dealing with anxiety.
The comedy comes from a place of warmth rather than mockery — a “laugh at ourselves” spirit that runs through a gallery of unforgettable characters: a nosey neighbor, an overwhelmed mom, relentlessly optimistic flight attendants, beauty pageant winners past their prime, and a crew of unruly campers with a counselor who simply cannot hold it together.
Then the show does something most sketch series don’t. In the final segment of every episode, the cast gathers in a living-room setting and invites the audience in — sharing real inspiration drawn from the theme, the sketches, and their own personal stories. It’s the moment the laughter turns into something that stays with you.
The Women Behind the Show
Our Ladies Show brings together three performers with serious range:
- Christin Jezak — creator, writer, and star (Miracle at Manchester, Raising Hope, Jimmy Kimmel Live!)
- Hillary Hawkins — (Primal, Nick Jr.’s Play Along, Gullah Gullah Island)
- Sarah Hernandez — (Nefarious, Unplanned, House of Payne)
“In a world with so much division and depression, I hope women of all ages and backgrounds will watch this show, laugh, be reminded of how beautiful, unique, and loved they are, and remember how much we need each other.”— Christin Jezak, Creator & Star
Already a Festival Favorite
The series’ recurring long-form sketch, Neighborhood Watch, didn’t arrive quietly. Originally released as a web series and revamped for Our Ladies Show with new footage, sound, and music, it has been sweeping the festival circuit:
- 🏆 Best Webseries — 2026 New Media Film Festival (Los Angeles)
- 🏆 Best Web/TV Series — Paris Film Awards
- 🏆 Best Web Series — Dallas Movie Awards
- 🏅 Additional wins at the London Movie Awards, Florence Film Awards, and Hollywood Gold Awards
- 🎬 Official Selection — 2026 Harvard Divinity School Film Fest
- ⭐ Finalist — Houston Comedy Film Festival
- 📣 Three nominations — 2025 Content Christian Media Conference, including Best Actress in a TV and Web Series nods for both Christin Jezak and Sarah Hernandez
Where and When to Watch
Our Ladies Show premieres Friday, June 13, 2026, streaming on The Roku Channel — the home of premium and free entertainment — in the U.S., U.K., and Canada. All seven episodes deliver the series’ signature blend of sharp sketch comedy and genuine encouragement.
Watch the trailer now on your platform of choice:
For more information, visit www.ourladiesshow.com and follow @ourladiesshow on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
About Christin Jezak
Christin Jezak has worked for over 15 years in the entertainment industry. She created and stars in Our Ladies Show and the award-winning web series Neighborhood Watch. She produced the EWTN TV program For the Sake of the Gospel and the all-women web series Ladies Keepin’ It Real, played Dr. Sam in Miracle at Manchester (starring Dean Cain, Daniel Roebuck, and Eddie McClintock), and voices Agnes in the podcast Confessions of a Catholic Single. She held a lead role in a short film for NTT Data directed by Academy Award–winning cinematographer Janusz Kamiński, has co-starred on Raising Hope, and appeared in Jimmy Kimmel sketches and a Grubhub Super Bowl commercial.
About The Roku Channel
Roku pioneered streaming on TV and is the #1 TV streaming platform in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico by hours streamed (Hypothesis Group, Dec. 2025). The Roku Channel is the home of premium and free entertainment, alongside Roku’s Howdy and Frndly TV services. Roku is headquartered in San Jose, California.
About Encompass Digital Media
Encompass Digital Media is a global managed services company — technology-driven, software-defined, and people-powered. Trusted by world-leading broadcasters, networks, sports rights-holders, and OTT platforms, it processes over 25,000 hours of content daily, serves 850 channels to 84 countries, distributes over 243,000 live events annually, and reaches 400 million radio listeners weekly worldwide. Learn more at www.encompass.tv.
Media & Interview Requests: To interview creator Christin Jezak or the cast, contact Christin at cjezak@p2ptheatre.com.
Why Some Songs End Up in Movies—While Others Never Do
They Told Him a Black Man Can’t Learn. He Sued Them and Won.
