ELLEN DEGENERES MAY BE READY TO CALL IT QUITS ON HER TALK SHOW
According to an insider, famous host, Ellen DeGeneres, is telling executives at Telepictures and Warner Bros that she has had enough. She wants to walk away from her show after facing several accusations claiming it’s a toxic working environment.
"She feels she can't go on, and the only way to recover her personal brand from this is to shut down the show," they said. "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."
It comes as staff at the Ellen DeGeneres Show are hitting back at her for shifting the blame to her executive producers in an apology memo sent this week.
"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. If anyone had come to her or those three vile [executive producers] to complain, they would've been fired," a staff member commented.
"Inside Telepictures, we've had enough of her. She is a phony who does not practice what she preaches," the insider stated.
"The behavior 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 Telepictures insider claims that Ellen "hates coming to work" and "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," they 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."
The claims of Ellen's toxic work environment were revealed earlier this month by one current and 10 former employees of the talk show who accused the three executive producers, Ed Glavin, Mary Connelly and Andy Lassner, of "bullying".
Ellen came out with an apology after it was announced earlier this week that her show was now subject to a probe by WarnerMedia which will look into staff experiences on set.
"While it is our most profitable show in daytime, we no longer make the money we used to make from the show, as we have to pay her tens of millions of dollars per year to show up. We thought our problems were with the cast upheaval at The Real, we had no idea that Ellen would implode during quarantine," they added.
After several complaints and a launch of a internal investigation into the supposed bad behavior, Ellen responded by sending her staff a memo in which she wrote she was "taking steps... to correct" issues with her employees.
"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. 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," Ellen wrote in her memo.
But the apology was not accepted by every employee, multiple staff members at the show told DailyMail.com that they are not buying Ellen's apology and are calling on her to call it quits.
One staffer said, "She's only addressing this now because the publicity is so bad for her and her BS brand of happiness and kindness. Ellen can throw everyone else under the bus, but the buck stops with her. Whenever she'd tell viewers to choose kindness, I'd throw up a little in my mouth because she always chose the opposite."
As the chaos continues, several employees came forward with several allegations. One of the allegations was made by a black woman who claimed she suffered a number of "microaggressions". Her request for a raise was ignored and she was accused of "walking around looking resentful and angry" after asking for staff members to undergo diversity and inclusion training.
Yet another former employee alleged they were fired after taking medical leave for one month following a suicide attempt.
Not just employees fired back at the host, even Everybody Loves Raymond actor, Brad Garrett, wrote a tweet, saying, "Sorry but it comes from the top @TheEllenShow. Know more than one who were treated horribly by her. Common knowledge."
A popular claim that has circulated is that staff members were instructed not to speak to Ellen. "She kept herself isolated from the staff. You can't go up and talk to her, heck, you can't even get within a mile of her on the lot," they said.
The former staffers told BuzzFeed News that they believe the host knew that several of her senior showrunners and producers were alleged to have committed sexual misconduct against junior-level employees.
"Warner Bros should cancel our show or swap her out for a fun celebrity host. Viewers have been fed lies for years. The Ellen you see on TV is disingenuous and inauthentic. She's a horrible person who has done nothing to support 99% of the people who work for her. Yet they won't cancel it as all they care about is money and the show is a cash cow. It's time for Ellen to leave TV. She's done enough damage. They should replace her with someone wonderful like Jen Aniston. She's always a dream when she comes by – gracious, kind and funny and we're actually allowed to look her in the eyes!!"
A source initially told Buzzfeed that the executive producers feel that "everybody who works at The Ellen Show is lucky to work there: 'So if you have a problem, you should leave because we'll hire someone else because everybody wants to work here.'"
Executive Producer, Andy Lassner, tweeted with confidence on Thursday that "nobody is going off the air".
Her is Ellen DeGeneres' full memo to her staff addressing mistreatment allegations:
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.
I could not have the success I’ve had without all of your contributions. My name is on the show and everything we do and I take responsibility for that. Alongside Warner Bros, we immediately began an internal investigation and we are taking steps, together, to correct the issues. 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.
I’m also 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. As someone who was judged and nearly lost everything for just being who I am, I truly understand and have deep compassion for those being looked at differently, or treated unfairly, not equal, or — worse — disregarded. To think that any one of you felt that way is awful to me. It’s been way too long, but we’re finally having conversations about fairness and justice.
We all have to be more mindful about the way our words and actions affect others, and I’m glad the issues at our show were brought to my attention. I promise to do my part in continuing to push myself and everyone around me to learn and grow. It’s important to me and to Warner Bros. that everyone who has something to say can speak up and feels safe doing so.
I am so proud of the work we do and the fun and joy we all help put out in the world. I want everyone at home to love our show and I want everyone who makes it to love working on it. Again, I’m so sorry to anyone who didn’t have that experience. If not for COVID, I’d have done this in person, and I can’t wait to be back on our stage and see you all then. Stay safe and healthy.
Love, Ellen