Ellen DeGeneres asked the internet what they’ll do first after quarantine and the response probably wasn’t what she expected
Ellen DeGeneres, after production of her show was suspended due to coronavirus, is back and is filming from her Los Angeles living room. (YouTube/The Ellen Show)
Ellen DeGeneres is probably regretting that joke she made about being under house arrest.
Since quarantine began the chat show host has found herself of the receiving end of a pretty fierce backlash.
First, a number of alleged ex-crew members claimed that Ellen is a mean person. From there the floodgates opened, with the host coming under fire for allegedly leaving her crew in the dark regarding lockdown pay, and chastised for comparing life in her palatial LA home to being in jail.
Ellen has remained silent on the criticism levelled at her, and on Monday (April 20) took to Twitter to pose an innocent question.
“When the quarantine ends, what are you going to do first?” she asked.
“Whether it’s hitting the beach, going out for tacos, or getting that much-needed, PROFESSIONAL haircut, tell us what you’re doing first!”
When the quarantine ends, what are you going to do first? Whether it’s hitting the beach, going out for tacos, or getting that much-needed, PROFESSIONAL haircut, tell us what you’re doing first! #WHATIMDOINGFIRST
— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) April 20, 2020
For one of her follower, the answer was simple: “I’m starting a whole campaign to help educate you on what prison actually is!”
I’m starting a whole campaign to help educate you on what prison Actually is !
— Mr.Five Mualimm-Ak (@MRFIVEINC) April 20, 2020
Another used the opportunity to drag Ellen over her alleged treatment of staff.
I’ll apologise to my production crew for causing unnecessary grief. You?
— ??????? Ian Beale (@Kryten1888) April 21, 2020
While one person threw it back to October 2019, when we all took large gatherings for granted and Ellen exercised her constitutional right to hang out with George W. Bush.
not this. pic.twitter.com/DfZOJkGFtE
— Tommie Sunshine ???✊️ (@tommiesunshine) April 20, 2020
‘Mean’ Ellen DeGeneres faces backlash over treatment of crew.
Ellen is currently filming her chat show from her LA home with the help of her wife Portia De Rossi and a skeleton crew.
In her first remote episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, she joked that being at home was “like being in jail”.
“It’s mostly because I’ve been wearing the same clothes for ten days and everyone in here is gay,” she laughed.
Ellen claimed that she was doing her best to keep the show going for the sake of “her staff and crew”, adding that she loves them “and the best way I can support them is to keep the show on air”.
But it has since been reported that only four core crew members are currently working on the remote version of the broadcast, and that an outside, non-union tech company has instead been hired to help her film at home.
According to two sources who spoke to Variety under condition of anonymity, for more than a month the core stage crew of more than 30 employees received no written communication about their working hours or pay.
