Ellen DeGeneres calls time on talk show
Ellen DeGeneres’ talk show has been canned in the wake of scandals that revealed a culture of bullying and sexual abuse on set
ELLEN DeGeneres is not as nice as you think. This was the headline in a New York Times article on Ellen three years ago – long before any of the drama she became embroiled in last year began to surface. The story suggested that the fun, friendly persona on her talk show was an act – not the woman she really was at heart, who was far more serious and complex than the jokey, everyone’s-bestfriend image she portrayed.
Back then, Ellen hinted she’d had enough of the talk show that made her fabulously rich and famous – it was time to focus on something else, do something different.
Even her wife, Portia de Rossi, encouraged her to move on but she was persuaded to stay by her brother Vance, a film producer and screenwriter who believed that “in the age of Donald Trump, the country needs her positive, unifying voice on television”.
Yet after a scandal, plummeting ratings and worldwide humiliation, Ellen recently announced she’d be taking off her famous talk-show takkies. After 18 years on-air, the show will end after its 19th season next year.
Ellen’s image, no matter how much she tries to defend it, has been seriously dented.
In her first public interview since the news of the show’s axing, the 63-year-old star said her decision to quit was because it had stopped being exciting.
“When you’re a creative person, you constantly need to be challenged,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. “And as great as this show is, it’s just not a challenge anymore.”
Ellen has called claims of a toxic work environment at her show “an outright lie”.
“From the very first day I said, ‘The one thing I want is everyone here to be happy and proud of where they work and if not, don’t work here’.
“No one is going to raise their voice or not be grateful. That’s the rule to this day.”
ELLEN has dismissed some of the serious allegations she faced last year as “stupid” and says she doesn’t deserve the backlash she received.
Staffers accused her of telling them not to look her in the eye, of cultivating a bullying culture on her show and treating underlings with disdain.
“When it started, with that stupid ‘someone couldn’t look me in the eye’ or whatever the first thing was, it’s like a crest of a wave. And then it just keeps getting bigger and bigger until it was out of control.”
Exacerbating matters were serious allegations of harassment, sexual misconduct and assault levelled at three top producers on the show. There were also claims of racism and bullying.
Executives Ed Glavin, Kevin Leman and Jonathan Norman were fingered by 36 former staffers and their testimonies were revealed in a damaging 2020 BuzzFeed report.
Ellen fired the three men but lashed out at media coverage she received.
“I felt like I’d been cancelled by the negativity,” she said on the Today show. “I really didn’t understand it. I still don’t. It was too orchestrated, too coordinated. People get picked on, yes – but for four months straight for me?
“All I ever heard from every guest that comes on the show is what a happy atmosphere this is and what a happy place this is.”
It wasn’t the first time Ellen had taken flak.
When she came out as gay in 1997 in her sitcom, The Ellen Show, and appeared on the cover of Time magazine she was heralded as brave in some quarters – but her show was cancelled the following year after straight viewers fled and gay audiences criticised her for not being political enough.
Even Elton John weighed in, with a remark she said stung for years. “She should stop talking about her sexuality and be funny,” he said.
Humour and kindness became Ellen’s mantras. Her talk-show motto is “be kind to one another”, but getting the show off the ground was far from easy.
“It was the hardest show we’ve ever had to launch in the history of our company,” a Warner Bros. executive told The Hollywood Reporter.
After her Time cover story, “Yep, I’m Gay”, Ellen went jobless for three years and eventually returned to stand-up comedy.
“I was heartbroken. I thought, ‘I don’t want to be a part of this business. It’s shallow and superficial. I work my ass off and do something that I think is important and this is how I’m rewarded?’”
Slowly, other work trickled back. She voiced the endearing Dory in Finding Nemo, was the face of the short-lived sitcom The Ellen Show and had a hosting gig at the 2001 Emmy Awards.
Then came Saturday Night Live’s Christmas Special and eventually The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
The talk show was a hit with its mix of celebrity guests, dancing, games and giveaways – nearly $70 million (now R980m) in charity donations and more than $300m (now R4,2 billion) in audience giveaways.
Ellen, who earns $84m (now R1,1bn) a year and is one of the highest-paid TV personalities, won the Mark Twain Prize for American Humour in 2012, the Presidential Medal of Freedom under Barack Obama in 2016 and 64 Daytime Emmys.
Comedian Wanda Sykes says “she took the bullet for everyone else” when she came out.
Celebrities such as Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory, Young Sheldon), Zachary Quinto (Star Trek, Heroes) and Matt Bomer (The Sinner, Doom Patrol) can identify as gay without the fear of tarnishing their brands, Wanda says.
“When you come out now, it’s a celebration, not a kiss of death,” she adds. “And we have her to thank for that.”
And it’s a pity, her fans say, that a show that made her such a crossover star has ended in sadness and scandal.
THE ratings spoke loud and clear. Viewership tanked in major cities across the US – by 59% in San Francisco, 50% in Los Angeles and between 40% and 32% in New York, Chicago and Philadelphia.
At the height of the scandal, Ellen had the support of several celebrity friends such as Kevin Hart and Katy Perry who tried to get the hashtag #StandByEllen off the ground. They failed, and the public condemnation continued.
Ellen later said she could never have got through that “horrible” time without the love and support of her wife.
“It broke my heart,” she said. “Portia was my rock. She kept me going and tried to help me put things in perspective.”
Ellen is planning to take “a little break” after her show ends but she still has plenty up her sleeve, including several shows on a number of US networks.
Upcoming projects include several TV series – Ellen’s Next Great Designer, Little Funny, Little Ellen and Pixar Popcorn, where she will reprise her role as Dory. She’s also producing the movies Jekyll and Couple Time, and a TV comedy special for her friend, comedian and actress Tig Notaro.
Portia says her wife is a brilliant actress and comedian.
“There are other things she could tackle. There’s far more to life than her talk show.”
‘AS GREAT AS THIS SHOW IS, IT’S JUST NOT A CHALLENGE ANYMORE’