Ellen DeGeneres Opens Up About Toxic Workplace Issues: The ‘Be Kind Lady’ Is ‘A Work in Progress’ — Watch Video
Ellen DeGeneres returned to the studio for her talk show’s Season 18 premiere, and she was joined by an enormous elephant in the room.
As seen in the video above — released ahead of the full episode’s syndicated broadcast on Monday — DeGeneres opened the season by acknowledging recent allegations of bullying and toxic workplace culture at the daytime series, which had prompted an internal investigation by parent company WarnerMedia over the summer.
“I learned that things happened here that never should have happened. I take that very seriously, and I want to say I am so sorry to the people that were affected,” DeGeneres began, echoing a previous letter she sent to her crew after the allegations surfaced. “I know that I’m in a position of privilege and power, and I realize that with that comes responsibility, and I take responsibility for what happens at my show. This is The Ellen DeGeneres Show. I am Ellen DeGeneres.”
Though she didn’t offer many behind-the-scenes details, DeGeneres added that “we have made the necessary changes” to the show, and “today, we are starting a new chapter.”
The host went on to address specific rumors about her off-screen behavior, which allegedly does not align with her on-screen persona and “Be kind to one another” sign-off.
“The truth is, I am that person that you see on TV. I am also a lot of other things,” she explained. “Sometimes I get sad. I get mad. I get anxious. I get frustrated. I get impatient. And I am working on all of that. I am a work in progress… I don’t think I’m that good [of an actress] that I could come out here every day for 17 years and fool you. This is me, and my intention is to always be the best person I can be. And if I’ve ever let someone down, if I’ve ever hurt their feelings, I’m so sorry for that.”
During the summer, a series of bombshell reports from Variety and BuzzFeed brought the show’s workplace culture to light, with former employees citing everything from racist comments made by senior producers to staffers getting fired for taking time off to attend family funerals. The show ultimately fired executive producers Ed Glavin, Kevin Leman and Jonathan Norman, all of whom were named in the allegations. Meanwhile, many of DeGeneres’ celebrity pals — including Modern Family‘s Sofia Vergara, comedian Kevin Hart and fellow daytime personality Steve Harvey — came to her defense.
The ‘necessary changes’ needed are firing Ellen herself which isn’t going to happen.
why would they she wasn’t in any of the allegations
In my Toronto tv school program, grads have advised us not to intern at Ellen because of Ellen. She’s extremely rude to the bts interns. The same reviews exist online from American interns before this scandal. She’s the problem. She enables bad behaviour from other producers.
There are plenty of interns, employees, and guests that had an excellent experience. Outside of a pre-visit and the on air bits, the guest are only affects be the EPs. In fact, the vast majority of the issues ever mention that weren’t a one-off where solely in the realm of the EPs. (And we don’t have to into the fact of the double standard at play here… any man who did any of the things attributed to Ellen directly wouldn’t raise an eyebrow, let alone warrant a comment).
Yeah, because that would be totally absurd, and frankly, sexist and homophobic.
I like Ellen’s show. But it’s obvious if she were a straight, white, male this show would’ve been cancelled after these allegations were made. Proven or not.
Bull wasn’t cancelled right after Michael Weatherly cost CBS millions in a settlement for workplace harrassment.
To be honest I don’t think they should cancel a show (and effectively fire 50+ people) just because the lead guy said some nasty things.
It’d be completely different if it had been something physical, but for something like what Michael Weatherly did, the most appropriate thing would be to have a provision in the contract where any settlement comes directly from his future earnings.
And if she were a straight white male, no one would have blinked at the small amount of this that was actually Ellen. And let’s be honest: she she wasn’t as “successful woman’ and a lesbian, most of the negative comments from the peanut galley wouldn’t exist.
A straight white male would have been cancelled immediately, Thats been proven over and over. They’re guilty till proven innocent and by then their career is ruined. Rarely do they even get a “Sorry, ewe made a mistake” . You can go as far back as the Duke incident. The kids had their careers stunted, their parents paid millions to lawyers, and the accuser walked away with nothing happening to her. So no, White males are subject to a different sdtandard. Accusations are on the front page for months. Retractions are on page 45 in the lower left hand corner in the smallest text available.
It’s also proven time and time again that a number of straight white men get to keep their careers with crappy (and sometimes criminal) behavior.
Michael Weatherly and Jason Beghe both kept their lead roles after serious workplace allegations (and investigations that proved their wrongdoing), and they were arguably more replaceable than Ellen. Bill O’Reilly kept his show while settling multiple harassment and assault lawsuits in court (one of which, his employer paid for).
It’s disingenuous to act like straight white men don’t get away with this crap, too.
If your name is on the front door then you are responsible.If things are going on that you don’t know about either you are a poor leader or you are lying about what you know.Yes,everyone is human,but that does not excuse this or the apparent apathy.You can make mistake,you can tolerate them from others,but denial and misrepresentation can’t be excused.
Not really – this is not a sole-proprietorship, but a multidivision corporation. Ellen is the face and the talent, not the CEO, not the CFO. I’m not sure with their structure, Ellen hires and fires the EPs… Warner Brothers does as far as we can see (so the buck stops there).
She’s not just “the face and the talent” tho. She’s the boss. If she wanted to just be the talent, then she wouldn’t hold her executive positions. Blaming Warner Brothers (who own her show but wouldn’t be in the Ellen offices like she is) is like blaming the CEO of McDonalds for a toxic environment at one of their locations instead of the store’s manager. Ellen is the store manager that is acting like she’s shocked that abuse has been happening in the kitchen for years. At worst, she’s complicit. At best, she’s negligent. Both ends of the spectrum make her an unfit boss.
Ellen’s apologized already and for those who continue to be hating on her need to chill out, get over it and accept her apology already, I’m tired of hearing people judging others for their past mistakes, acting like they’re perfect. SMH.
No you cannot just say sorry and everything is forgiven, she is not in the first grade, this is real life and should have consequences for her actions. Gay privileges.
If you think that gay people have privilege then you need to leave whatever fantasy land you’ve been living in for the real world. Gay people (and especially transgender people) are still murdered in this country every day. I agree that forgiveness requires more than a simple apology so you should’ve just stuck with that argument.
Exactly. Most of the negative blather about this is simply sexist and homophobic nutters blathering because it’s their opportunity to take pot shots at a successful lesbian for doing things that wouldn’t raise an eyebrow if a straight white man sis them. And BTW, almost none of the complaints directly involve Ellen, and she isn’t the supervisor of the people that were the subject of the complaints.
And straight people aren’t murdered everyday???
Now I have no clue what “Gay privilege” is but let’s face it even Ellen herself mentioned she has privilege. Anyone with millions of dollars does.
Thanks for illustrating the abject homophobia in most the negative comments.
She apologized for not knowing anything. BS. If she in fact didn’t know anything, she should fire herself for being stupid or blind. Being stupid and blind would not set a good example for kids on TV. It would be too honest to say she did know and let her continue.
Nonesense. Warner Brothers fired the EPs, meaning it was their job. Ellen is just the talent.
Yes, the talent that makes them the money.
The talent that is excused for bad behavior because it makes them money.
The talent that gets away with egregious behavior because it makes them a lot of money.
Please stop with your cheerleading to defend Ellen.
LBGTQ people getting murdered are NOT Ellen, WB’s “talent.” So stop comparing her to “people on the street,” which she, herself should stop doing.
She IS treated special, she IS responsible, not WB, and she IS, at the end, the one who should be accountable.
Yes end her show. That will really help all of the people who are working for her to become jobless.
Her show isn’t a restaurant or a automobile factory,it’s part of an industry where people in it can find other opportunities
People in restaurants or factories can’t find other work?
Awfully cavalier about someone else’s jobs.
Yeah but its a hostile work enviornment
Replace her. Entertainment industry is not that stupid to leave an empty slot.
Why? There is no reason at all.
We need more Ellens
ahhhhh, nope.
I think it would be good to give her the benefit of the doubt – everyone deserves that. She’s apologized, and now we wait and see if changes really do take place. I think many people are quick to judge and hate and take gleeful joy in seeing others crash and burn. And yes, as a commenter above said, why end the show and let those 250 people be jobless?
I feel that – if more mistreatment happens behind the scenes – those affected will be less reluctant to speak up now. So time will tell how genuine Ellen is about these changes.
Thank you! Couldn’t have said it better myself. Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone is human. It is easy to push the button on the electric chair when it is not hooked up to your la-z-boy. As well, there are a lot of bandwagon jumpers and drama seekers out there. She did not try to defend herself in the first place. She apologized and said she wants to fix it. She was solution based from day 1. Kudos to her. Not easy in the public eye. Facing millions of abusers calling her an abuser.
I can tell when she meets a person she isn’t sincere, they are so happy to meet her. Her facial expression shows it all.
I find it unbelievable that she still gets a stage, so fast after all that has happened. This apology is acted, the jokes in it are totally out of place. She seemed in a rush to get trough it, as if it was enough.
She needs to step down and give the airtime to some new talent with values they don’t only preach but also live by!
Ellen looks like Marshall Applewhite -Doe- from The Heavens Gate crew. She needs a new look.
Ellen has her problems and she spoke about that but in the end she is taking responsibility for the issues which took place. I believe in second chances and lets give her the time to really make a difference. In a year if allegations continue then it will be time to say good-bye Ellen. Lets see what 2021 brings and I am hoping it will be a great year for all.
I appreciate Ellen’s attempt at redeeming her place in our hearts. While I was saddened by some of what I heard this summer,I truly believe she has our backs and wants to continue to do good for her fans and to keep making a difference in lives. I will continue to enjoy her show, philanthropy and her talent. Welcome back, Ellen and staff.
She needs to retire I don’t think viewers are going to trust her, its not like seriously she didn’t know what was going on in her shows production. I give it a few months and it’ll be cancelled cause lack of interest and the conti used employee speaking out behind the scenes anonymously that things haven’t changed just covered up by the corporate money makers. Go buy houses and flip them and retire from television its time Ellen. Or prove us naysayers wrong .
I’ve watched Ellen’s address three times now. It doesn’t sound sincere. That’s just and only my gut reaction. She said all the right things though it was to rehearsed and planned. Only at the very end did, I think, she begin to sound like she was speaking from her heart. Twitch compounded this and made everything sound even more contrived and PC. Overall, I give the statement a D grade.
Alan I agree with you 💯.
I agree as well. I’m a firm believer for second chances for everyone however I think too many people have already made up their minds.
I am sick of seeing this lesbian scumbag on TV. Take her off TV!
Homophobe says what?
She should not have been making jokes during her “apology”. If you’re going to be sincere about something, it’s no time to try an inject humor into a serious situation. Completely misguided. Only time will tell if she’s making any changes for her persona but if any kind of negative story comes up and it proves to be true, her show and career are done.
The jokes made it worse for me. It was like she was making a joke of the whole thing.
Especially the good actress bit. Kind of makes you think the whole episode was acted out.
I’m sorry but I don’t believe her. The fact is people named her specifically in regards to bad behavior. She is also the person in charge as it is her show.
She is a bully who got caught.
“I learned that things happened here that never should have happened.”
She still takes no responsibility for her toxicity….
What an amusing non-apology… “I’m cool, but sometimes I get mad, and I’m working on that”, “I can’t fool people for 17 years”, “what happens in my show is my responsibility” (as if people weren’t actually saying it was her doing all that stuff)…
And she’s even joking about it all, as if talking about it in a lighter tone made it better. Or if it was something to joke about. Ugh.
Will they at least stop sending cast members and guests out on demeaning tasks/skits just for laughs?
If lessons have been learned, they will drop some of the segments – mic in ear directing people to say or do rude things.
Seems very tone deaf during the summer when more accusations were arising to have episode where they sent Andy outside to her backyard Like some sort of caged animal.
She looks to stressed out. She can pretend like she isn’t worried but it reads all over her.
People are so stupid. Everyday, someone does terrible things intheir own house and their patents,children and/ or spouses do not know about it. Now Ellen is supposed to know what happens ina whole company? And let’s not get started on how easily we dismiss another person’s livelihood. Is this envy?
what’s wrong with being superficial? Are you all saying you aren’t being in the very least not 100% genuine? that you always being real and awesome everytime in your life? GOOD FOR YOU. You keep go on and talk she’s not being sincere and all, well, who do you think the F are you? You keep go on and on that you can see her true behavior, welp, such an ESP! Congrats! But even if it’s true, so what?You say Ellen created hostile work environment? Do you guys know and are sure for 100% she did those wrong “conducts” on purpose of being a bully, or yet to bully a specific and certain people? her own employees? Do you think she or the management hire people so they can torture them and then pay them??? Wow.. bravo. If you can’t handle people with such mentality, then don’t. What people do and don’t are not our business. Our business is just to watch or NOT to watch. HYPOCRITE.
This is another notpology and a nod to her own sense of hurt.
This is 0 for 2 on the apology front. Apologies cannot and should not involve a promo for the offending person.
I work in the industry. The thing that bugs me about all this against Ellen is…where are the SPECIFIC examples of her doing any wrong? People only ever say it is a toxic work set but where are the examples involving HER? The entertainment industry is not for the thin skinned and it seems like that is what happened here.