Ellen DeGeneres staff are ‘loving’ the show’s alleged ‘toxic and racist’ workplace culture being exposed
Ellen DeGeneres. (Anthony Harvey/Getty)
Ellen DeGeneres is not as nice as you think. At least that’s what countless of her former and current employees are claiming amid reports of a “toxic” workplace environment at The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
And they’re loving every minute of it, sources claim.
Insiders told US Weekly that Ellen’s employees have rallied together in light of a BuzzFeed News article where staffers said the daytime talk show host’s happy persona is “bulls**t [that] only happens when the cameras are on”.
“They’ve been calling and texting each other about the story,” a source connected to the show’s production told the outlet.
“They’re loving that the truth — which has been an open secret for years in the industry — is finally receiving more interest.”
Ellen, 62, has seen her reputation as a beacon of positivity chiselled away in recent months. In the Buzzfeed News piece, staff claimed she fired people for attending family funerals or taking medical leave, and alleged that producers joked two Black employees looked similar.
Ellen DeGeneres has been filming The Ellen Show from her California mansion. (EllenTube)
Others claimed that direct managers instructed lower-ranking employees not to speak to the entertainer if they saw her around the office.
The flood gates opened this year after one of Ellen’s ex-employees, Kevin T Porter, described her as “one of the meanest people alive” in a winding Twitter thread.
Spikes have, over the years, been thrown by celebrities, former employees and viewers under the comedian’s feet. She has always denied them, once saying to the New York Times: “That bugs me if someone is saying [that she’s not nice] because it’s an outright lie.”
But it seems that those in the senior ranks of the show have sought to keep the ongoings of the Ellen show a secret, the insider claimed. They said that staff have to sign nondisclosure agreements as a condition of their hiring.
“You can’t say anything, even nice things, even if you get fired, even years after you’ve left,” the insider said.
Ellen show producers: ‘We realise, as many in the world are learning, that we need to do better.’
In a statement to BuzzFeed, The Ellen DeGeneres Show’s executive producers Ed Glavin, Mary Connelly and Andy Lassner said: “Over the course of nearly two decades, 3,000 episodes, and employing more than 1,000 staff members, we have strived to create an open, safe, and inclusive work environment.
“We are truly heartbroken and sorry to learn that even one person in our production family has had a negative experience. It’s not who we are and not who we strive to be, and not the mission Ellen has set for us.
“For the record, 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.”
