Ellen prepared to quit as queue of critics lengthens
Ellen DeGeneres is reportedly ready to call it quits on her show amid mounting pressure and a storm of negative publicity around toxic workplace allegations.
According to the Daily Mail, the host, 62, has told executives at TelePictures and Warner Bros that she’s had enough and wants to walk away.
“She feels she can’t go on and the only way to recover her personal brand from this is to shut down the show,” a source told the publication.
“The truth is she knew what was going on, it’s her show. The buck stops with her. She can blame every executive under the sun — but Ellen is ultimately the one to blame.”
Staff at her show have also hit back at the apology letter she sent out this week, branding her a “phoney” and claiming anyone who complained to her about the ongoing issues “would’ve been fired”.
“Don’t think for a minute anything she has said in that apology means anything. She created and then enabled this toxic culture to go on for so long,” one staffer said.
“If anyone had come to her or those three [executive producers] to complain, they would’ve been fired.”
“Inside Telepictures, we’ve had enough of her. She is a phoney who does not practice what she preaches,” another source told Daily Mail.
“The behaviour of her show executives has been appalling, but [Ellen] is no better. In fact, she is the worst.
“It’s outrageous that she is trying to pretend that this is all a shock to her. The fish rots from the head, and Ellen is the head.”
The insider went on to claim that DeGeneres “hates coming to work”, “struggles to be nice to people” and has “utter contempt for her audience”.
“She has been phoning it in for so long, and only staying for the money and celebrity it affords her,” the source said.
“We’ve dealt with her BS for so many years, she’s not innocent at all, she’s not nice and the show is not filled with happiness.”
As speculation swirls around DeGeneres’ future, actor Brad Garrett — who appeared on The Ellen Show six times between 2004 and 2007 — has joined the chorus of criticism aimed at the host.
The Everybody Loves Raymond star retweeted an article about DeGeneres’ “emotional apology to staff” — in which she appeared to lay the blame at the feet of those working below her — tagging the daytime TV host and rubbishing her claims.
“Sorry but it comes from the top @TheEllenShow. Know more than one who were [sic] treated horribly by her. Common knowledge,”
Garrett wrote above the link.
In her apology memo, as published by THR on Friday, DeGeneres apologises for what’s gone on, insisting that steps will be taken to “correct the issues” going forward.
But the letter was quickly slammed by many on social media, who accused Ellen of passing the buck and throwing her own staff under the bus.
And hours after the letter was published, dozens of former Ellen staffers spoke out in a shocking new Buzzfeed report, alleging sexual misconduct from several top producers on The Ellen Show.
“As we’ve grown exponentially, I’ve not been able to stay on top of everything and relied on others to do their jobs as they knew I’d want them done. Clearly some didn’t. That will now change and I’m committed to ensuring this does not happen again,” she writes.
DeGeneres opens the letter with an apology, saying that what has happened was “the opposite” of what she intended for the show.
“Hey everybody — it’s Ellen. On day one of our show, I told everyone in our first meeting that The Ellen DeGeneres Show would be a place of happiness — no one would ever raise their voice, and everyone would be treated with respect.
“Obviously, something changed, and I am disappointed to learn that this has not been the case. And for that, I am sorry. Anyone who knows me knows it’s the opposite of what
I believe and what I hoped for our show,” she writes.
Elsewhere in the letter, DeGeneres says she’s “learning that people who work with me and for me are speaking on my behalf and misrepresenting who I am and that has to stop”.
The talk show queen said that, had it not been for coronavirus, she would have “done this in person”, and said she was “so sorry” to anyone who had not loved working on the show.
The Ellen DeGeneres Show is reportedly under an internal company investigation after numerous accusations by former staffers that it is a “toxic” work environment.
Variety reported this week that the show has “has become the subject of an internal investigation by WarnerMedia” following the reports of workplace issues on the series.
Executives reportedly sent a memo to staff last week saying they have engaged an employee relations group and a third party firm, “who will interview current and former staffers about their experiences on set,” said Variety.
A bombshell Buzzfeed report this month collated stories from 10 former and one current Ellen employee — all speaking anonymously — described a “toxic work environment” with a culture of “racism, fear and intimidation”.
“That ‘be kind’ bull **** only happens when the cameras are on. It’s all for show,” one former employee is quoted as saying.
Former employees alleged to Buzzfeed that they’d been fired for taking medical leave, attending family funerals, and one for posting a selfie in the office on her Instagram Stories. Others claimed that raising complaints about offensive or racist comments from colleagues saw them labelled as “PC police”.
In a statement to Buzzfeed, Ellen executive producers Ed Glavin, Mary Connelly and Andy Lassner insisted that “the day-to-day responsibility of the Ellen show is completely on us. We take all of this very seriously and we realise, as many in the world are learning, that we need to do better, are committed to do better, and we will do better.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Glavin is the producer who will be leaving the show.
The tell-all is just the latest in a long line of PR disasters for Ellen, who has suffered through awkward celebrity interviews and a viral Twitter thread labelling her one of the “meanest people alive” this year.
— news.com.au
The fish rots from the head, and Ellen is the head. Claim from a source