Consider the case closed on one of daytime TV’s most talked-about viral moments. Drew Barrymore and Martha Stewart proved that a playful shove doesn’t have to spell the end of a friendship or stir up lasting drama.
The lifestyle mogul, 84, made her way back onto “The Drew Barrymore Show,” marking her first appearance since the November 2024 incident when she pushed Barrymore away on stage. Their reunion was intentional, allowing both women to clear the air about what really happened.
‘Back Off a Little Bit’: Drew Barrymore Reveals Why She Can’t Stop Being ‘Touchy’ with Guests Weeks After Being Shoved By Martha Stewart for Her Unwanted Caresses
“People thought that we had beef — or that you had beef with me over that — and I didn’t get it,” Barrymore, 50, told Stewart during the Sept. 29 episode. “I was so surprised.”
Stewart wasted no time in explaining.
“Oh, I just don’t like to be petted on television,” she said, drawing laughs from the audience. The cookbook author went on to note that she had seen Barrymore’s familiar pattern of getting physically affectionate with her guests.
“She’s a very cozy girl, don’t you think?” Stewart quipped. “I’m not so cozy.”
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The exchange that started the frenzy happened when Barrymore asked Stewart what makes her so “soft and gooey.”
While the Food Network chef reflected, Barrymore reached out and stroked her shoulder and back. Stewart quickly responded by shoving her away. The moment had the audience howling with laughter, but once the video clip hit social media, it became the subject of heated conversations about boundaries.
The commentary online was swift and sharp. Under Page Six’s Instagram post of the moment, users didn’t hesitate to criticize Barrymore’s behavior.
“Drew is cringe. I’m glad Martha called her out because I think many of her guests must feel very uncomfortable,” one person wrote.
Another bluntly pointed out, “She doesn’t respect personal space.”
Others went even further in their critiques.
One wrote, “I agree with Martha.. Drew doesn’t understand personal self space or boundaries.. I, for one, am tired of Drew’s prolonged adolescent wildflower persona.. It was cute when she was twenty, it’s pathetic in her fifties.”
Another piled on: “Lifelong fan of Drew in movies but she’s weird and her whole hippie dippy persona is annoying and juvenile. She’s desperate to be perpetually 22 years old.”
Meanwhile, severa; people warned her to keep her hands to herself: “She REALLY needs to stop petting people.”
Barrymore had already tried to put the issue to rest earlier this year during an appearance on “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.”
“I think she was just teasing,” she said about Stewart. “I think Martha really does like me.” She stressed that the internet exaggerated the moment and turned it into something it wasn’t, though she admitted she struggles to keep her hands to herself with guests.
The mother of two has been transparent about her tactile nature. “I can’t actually control” her tendency to get close to guests, she admitted. She also revealed that producers warned her about it when the show first launched.
“I got focus-grouped when we launched, and it was not good. It was awful,” she revealed.
In an August 2024 interview with “Entertainment Tonight,” Barrymore connected her touchiness to the isolation she experienced during the pandemic.
“Do you know how hard the pandemic was for me? I was alone in a studio by myself! I like to be around people!” she confessed.
While some guests and viewers clearly don’t appreciate Barrymore’s hands-on style, others haven’t seemed to mind. Rapper 50 Cent, for instance, embraced it during his appearance, later sharing photos of them holding hands on Instagram.
Broadway star Cynthia Erivo also comforted Barrymore during her December 2024 interview, explaining she, too, is physically affectionate and highlighting her close bond with Ariana Grande.
Even with the divided reactions, Barrymore closed out her reunion with Stewart by giving her flowers — figuratively, not literally.
“I think you’ve given people a lot of confidence in life through maintaining being true to yourself,” Barrymore told Stewart. “That’s been a very guiding light for us.”
Their conversation showed that beneath the viral headlines, there was no feud. Instead, it was a matter of one woman’s comfort level colliding with another’s natural instincts. In the end, Stewart and Barrymore showed that honesty, humor, and a little respect can put rumors to rest.
‘Glad Martha Called Her Out’: Drew Barrymore Warned As Martha Stewart Returns to Put Her in Her Place, One Year After Shove Incident