Drew Barrymore fans have taken to social media to defend to star after she kneeled in front of Dylan Mulvaney on a recent episode of her talk show.
On March 14, trans influencer Mulvaney appeared on The Drew Barrymore Show to discuss her transition journey and the recent negativity she has been facing.
For those unaware, Mulvaney has received a torrent of vile backlash after appearing in promotional videos for brands like Nike and Bud Light - leading to some people - such as musician Travis Tritt - boycotting their products.
During her appearance on Barrymore's talk show, Mulvaney said: "There’s so much hatred directed at the trans community right now, it’s everywhere."
"I think the greatest weapon that I can contribute is trans joy and comedy and talking about hard subjects," she added, explaining that she wants to let everybody see that she's "not a monster".
"I’m not somebody that is trying to do anything but be myself," Mulvaney said, before telling Barrymore: "I look at you and I can't imagine anyone disliking you."
Moments later, a compassionate Barrymore kneeled on the floor in front of the 26-year-old and told her: "Oh please, do you want to know ironically who dislikes me the most sometimes? Myself."
The visual led to some viewers calling out Barrymore, with US conservative political commentator Liz Wheeler tweeting that the sight was "degrading and "anti-woman", before claiming "transgenderism is a religious ideology so worshipping the idol makes sense in a twisted way."
Former Trump staffer Sebastian Gorka would go as far as to tweet: "Hollywood actress Drew Barrymore kneels in front of the altar of Transgender insanity."
However, in response to the backlash, regular viewers of the show have taken to social media to point out that this is simply how Barrymore shows compassion and candidly speaks to many of her guests - men or women.
Sharing screenshots from previous shows with stars Brendan Fraser, Pink, Halle Bailey, and Brooke Sheilds, fans pointed out that Barrymore has often taken a more informal position in order to better communicate with her guests.
"To the idiots mad at Drew Barrymore for daring to show compassion here she is doing the same thing she did with Dylan Mulvaney," one person tweeted. "Except this is Brendan Fraser who just won best actor at the Oscars after being blacklisted because he said he was sexually assaulted."
A second added: "Anti trans fanatics has to lie to justify being mad about things. Like I remember how many of them raged about Drew Barrymore kneeling with Dylan Mulvaney and this was patriarchy blah… when like… that’s how she talks to her guests on her show. A show they clearly never watched."
Meanwhile, one viewer who clearly appreciated the gesture was this Twitter user, who wrote: "Thank you
@DrewBarrymoreTV @DrewBarrymore for showing the world an example of kindness, acceptance and love. The world needs so much more of this. Dylan Mulvaney is a beautiful human being, as are you."