Crying fan embraced by Drew Barrymore explains why the moment was 'super special'
"Like myself, Drew has had a super hard life," she said.

Drew Barrymore speaks during the FLOWER Beauty launch at Westfield Parramatta on April 13, 2019, in Sydney, Australia.
Drew Barrymore, 48, has been in the public consciousness since she starred as Gertie in 1982’s mega-blockbuster, “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial,” a performance that earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. So, it makes sense that many people of a certain age feel as if they’ve grown up with her.
Now, she’s an even more significant part of people’s lives as the host of “The Drew Barrymore Show,” which runs every weekday on CBS.
On May 25, the show’s Instagram page posted a touching video of an off-the-cuff moment between Barrymore and a fan during a taping of her show. In the clip, Barrymore realizes that someone in the audience is crying. So, instead of ignoring the fan, she jumps to action to see what is the matter.
The fan is Olivia Radford, 21, who recently moved to Los Angeles from Salt Lake City, Utah.
“Are you OK? Did anything happen? Whose a** do I have to kick?” she said while approaching the audience member. The crying fan’s friend clarified things for Barrymore, saying she loves her. “Oh, thank God, it’s nothing bad,” Barrymore exclaimed.
“I was like, ‘Tell me who they are, and I will take them down.’ Who made you cry?” she joked.
“You’re just, like, my childhood idol. I don’t want to be that person to cry,” Radford admitted. Then Barrymore assured her that emotional outbursts are acceptable and encouraged in her studio.
“Oh, screw that! Be that person!” Barrymore said.
"I really love you. I'm sorry," the fan said as she was handed a tissue. The talk show host then sat on Radford's lap and comforted her. “I have the urge to do this," Barrymore said as she held her.
“This is such an honor for me to meet you. I’m sorry I have dumpling breath,” Barrymore told Radford. “It’s so funny that you would say you don’t want to cry here,” she continued. “I cry here all the time.”
Radford told Upworthy that her "all-time favorite movie growing up" was "50 First Dates" starring Barrymore and Adam Sandler. "As you can tell from the video, I'm quite an emotional person," she told Upworthy. "I cry every single time I watch that movie. It’s extremely inspiring. I’m a huge fan of Adam Sandler as well!"
Radford feels a kinship with Barrymore that goes even deeper than her films.
"Like myself, Drew has had a super hard life," Radford said. "Drew is an extremely loving person, despite all the hardships she’s had to overcome. At the taping, she told me that there was a reason we met and that she sees herself in me, which felt super special."
Radford was able to briefly speak with Barrymore after the taping, and the talk show host wished her luck on her new life in Los Angeles. She hopes to make the experience permanent by getting Barrymore's words of advice tattooed in her handwriting because "she told me to always 'Be that person.'"
The tender exchange between Barrymore and Radford shows that the talk show host is just as sweet and caring off-camera as she is when she does her show. They always say you should never meet your heroes, but it’s probably a good idea if yours is Drew Barrymore.
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There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."
This article originally appeared in May.