‘I recently had a scare’

Drew Barrymore is opening up about a recent health scare on her talk show. 

The Emmy-winning host and actress revealed that she underwent an “emergency biopsy” after receiving a “bad mammogram” during an interview with comedian and breast cancer survivor Tig Notaro on Monday’s episode of The Drew Barrymore Show. 

“This was the thing I wanted to risk talking about on this show because I recently had a scare,” Barrymore admitted. Turning to the audience, she added, “I’m completely fine, but I did get a bad mammogram and I got taken into that room and then I had an emergency biopsy. And I waited those five days.”

Barrymore’s eyes welled up with tears as she reflected on the entire experience. Notaro, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012, acknowledged, “It’s a long wait.” 

“You had breast cancer and you have spoken about it humorously, eloquently, fiercely and brilliantly yourself,” Barrymore said. “How did you calm yourself? How did you make peace with it?”

Notaro, who has been in remission since 2013 after undergoing both chemotherapy and a double mastectomy, confessed that the experience of having breast cancer “cracked me open” entirely.

“I went from being somebody that held everything to myself — I was gonna do it on my own and I’m okay,” she said. “Even when I came back from surgery, I had a double mastectomy and my closest friends were settling in to stay with me and I was like, ‘Oh, I’m fine.’ And I couldn’t even lift my arms.” 

She continued, “They were like, ‘You’re all set, Tig?’ And I’m like, ‘Yep, I’m all set. You guys can just head out now.’”

Barrymore teased, “I’ll just martyr myself right into my bed and stay there for the next month!”

Instead, Notaro said that she can’t encourage people enough to get over their fear of asking for help. “It is the greatest gift you can give yourself and the people that love you,” she said. “Because people want to help. People want to do good, and it changed my life.”

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Notaro was visiting The Drew Barrymore Show to promote her documentary Come See Me in the Good Light, which depicts the relationship between poet and activist Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley after Gibson is diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer. 

“Thank you, Tig, for opening this conversation so we can change the narrative on what’s coming for all of us,” Barrymore said. “That we can embrace it in a new way — your documentary is going to be groundbreaking and so important for people and it’s one of the most beautiful love stories I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Barrymore has spoken out about the importance of routine breast cancer screenings on her talk show, and even filmed an episode that featured herself getting a mammogram in order to show viewers feel more comfortable with the process. 

She also dedicated an entire October 2023 episode about breast cancer awareness to Drew Crew member Ross Mathews’ late mom Gay, who died from the disease. 

“It was so heartbreaking, but it also taught me so much about strength and family and love,” Mathews said on the show at the time. “How strong she was and how much I loved her and still do. It was such a gift to have that time.”

Notaro, meanwhile, has also detailed her breast cancer experience in her 2014 stand-up special, Live, as well as in her 2016 memoir, I’m Just A Person. 

The Drew Barrymore Show airs weekdays on CBS.

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