The awards ceremony, to be held Sunday, will instead be pre-taped, it was announced Friday.
The MTV Movie & TV Awards will no longer be held live amid the ongoing writers' strike, instead pivoting to a pretaped ceremony that will air Sunday. The network announced the news Friday as the writers' strike, which officially began Tuesday, continues in Los Angeles and New York City, after a breakdown in talks with studios and streaming services.
“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," Bruce Gillmer, president of music, music talent, programming and events at Paramount Global, and executive producer of the MTV Movie & TV Awards, said in a new statement.
Drew Barrymore, who was set to host the awards, pulled out of the event on Thursday, announcing that she was standing in solidarity with the striking writers.
"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 to ET. "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. I thank MTV, who has truly been some of the best partners I have ever worked with. And I can’t wait to be a part of this next year, when I can truly celebrate everything that MTV has created, which is a show that allows fans to choose who the awards go to and is truly inclusive."
Following Barrymore's announcement, Gillmer told Variety at the time that while they supported her decision, the show still planned to go on, creatively working around the terms of the strike by utilizing live performances and pre-taped segments.
"Drew, without question, she's been incredible. It's hard to imagine that we've ever had a better experience with a host," Gillmer stated. "She's more of a partner really, she's in it every day, just super passionate and super engaged and creative. She even brought some of her own team along for the journey. So when this all reared its head, we started to prepare for what could be. She is not surprisingly, standing in solidarity with the writers, which we have full respect for. She has our full support."
The MTV Movie & TV Awards will still air Sunday, May 7 at 8 p.m. ET on MTV with simulcasts on BET, BET Her, Comedy Central, CMT, Logo, MTV2, Nickelodeon, Paramount Network, Pop, TV Land, VH1 and MTV in more than 150 countries.
See some highlights from last year's MTV Movie & TV Awards in the video below.
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