“It was the right thing to do”: Drew Carey on the fortune he spent feeding striking writers
Written by ABC Audio. All rights reserved. on April 15, 2024
At Sunday evening’s Writers Guild Awards, Drew Carey said he didn’t want applause for footing the bill for food for out-of-work writers during last summer’s writers strike — but he got it anyway.
The former Drew Carey Show star said it was simply “the right thing to do.”
That said, he didn’t realize his open tab at Bob’s Big Boy and Swingers would be so spendy.
One estimate put the bill from Bob’s Big Boy at $500,000; Swingers, another burger joint, was reportedly charging him $10,000 a week.
“I didn’t know it was going to cost me so much money,” Carey admitted to the crowd at the Hollywood Palladium, according to Deadline video of the event.
He explains he did the same thing during the last WGA strike, “I think the total bill was like $67,000,”
before adding, “I thought it was going to be about the same thing.”
To laughs, he added, “But then some of you decided, ‘Oh yeah I’m going to a get a shake and some dessert.'”
Carey said his accountant asked, “‘Is there is any way we can dial this back?'” and his publicist, on a three-way call, asked the same. “‘Nope, I already said I would,'” Carey recalled his reply, to cheers.
He continued, “I really appreciate all the thanks and stuff. I don’t think I should get that much credit for doing the right thing … you writers, The Drew Carey Show writers, made me a f****** million. Everybody in this room makes some actor a million, and you deserve all the money you get, all the credit you get. Thank you so much for everything you do. God bless all of you.”
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