Drew Barrymore's fans defend her after Dylan Mulvaney chat draws online ire

Social-media commenters have come to Drew Barrymore's defense following transphobic tweets that attacked the talk show host over her interview with transgender actor-comedian and TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney.

Most of the ire over Monday's episode of the syndicated "Drew Barrymore Show" was over Barrymore leaving her interviewer's chair to kneel and then sit on a rug to speak with her guest, as Barrymore often does. Guests either join her there, as Mulvaney did, or keep their seats. "It's … Drew's 'thing' that she does to get closer/more human with her guests. She does it a lot," noted one person, posting screenshots of six examples.

Regardless, wrote one person, hurling a common anti-trans claim, "Drew Barrymore kneels for Dylan Mulvaney, a man pretending to be a woman … ." Another attacker, hyperbolically describing the segment in apocalyptic terms, said, "[W]e're just grappling with the dystopian existential dread that accompanies the image of a woman kneeling before a misogynist wearing a mocking caricature of her existence."

One defender countered that, "It boggles my mind no one complaining sees this as an act of caring & compassion; Drew & Dylan even sat together on the floor talking as I’ve done many times w/girlfriends as we got deep in our conversations. Ladies supporting each other, love to see it." Tweeted another, "… I see one person demonstrating compassion towards another and them discussing how to practice more self-compassion … ."

Others noted the kneeling was clearly not in the context of worship.

One critic felt the moment exemplified that, "Women are now getting on their hands and knees to show solidarity with a man who has lived as a woman for less than a year … ." A commenter pointed out in response, "One woman did this on her show. Stop pearl clutching over a picture that weirds you out a little bit. Try growing up. If you don't like it, nobody is forcing you to watch the show."

Mulvaney, who has 1.7 million TikTok followers including Lady Gaga and "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" star Rachel Brosnahan, came on the talk show to commemorate a year since she began humorously chronicling her transition in a TikTok series, "365 Days of Girlhood."

BARRYMORE HOSTS MTV AWARDS. Actor-producer Barrymore, whose screen work includes "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" (1982), "The Wedding Singer" (1998), "Grey Gardens" (2009) and the Netflix series "Santa Clarita Diet" (2017-19), will host this year's MTV Movie & TV Awards, she announced Tuesday in an online video. She promised: "Big moments. Huge movie stars. Cocaine Bear, are you free on May 7th?" The show airs on MTV that night at 8.