Ellen DeGeneres has come under serious fire for allegedly mistreating the crew of her
daytime talk show during the coronavirus pandemic. According to Variety, members of the core
stage crew, which consists of around 30 employees, are, quote, "outraged over their treatment
from top producers," and claiming they were kept in the dark on their pay and their hours
for weeks. This coincides with BuzzFeed detailing a toxic work culture on the show.
Other peers and insiders are coming out of the woodwork to gripe too, suggesting that
Ellen's signature signoff, "be kind," may not ring true off-camera. DeGeneres' former
bodyguard called her "cold" and "demeaning," telling Fox News,
"Ellen is the one person that I've been assigned to, and I've been assigned to quite a few
celebrities, that has never taken the time to say hi to me."
And comedian Kevin T. Porter called DeGeneres, quote, "notoriously one of the meanest people
alive" in a tweet that attracted tens of thousands of likes.
On July 30, 2020, DeGeneres issued an apology to the staff, and the show is undergoing an
internal investigation by WarnerMedia. In the midst of the controversy, DeGeneres does
have someone important in her corner, wife Portia de Rossi. The actress, who married
DeGeneres in 2008, took to Instagram to break her silence on the mistreatment allegations
directed at her spouse.
The Arrested Development star spoke out about the workplace accusations for the first time
on August 3, 2020, posting a photo to Instagram that read "I stand by Ellen" in the show's
signature colors. de Rossi captioned her post,
"To all our fans....we see you. Thank you for your support."
She added the hashtags "Stop Bot Attacks," "I Stand With Ellen DeGeneres," "I Stand By
Ellen," "I Stand By Ellen DeGeneres" ‬and "Be Kind To One Another", the phrase DeGeneres
uses to close out her show every day. As People magazine noted, it's unclear why de Rossi
added the "Stop Bot Attacks" hashtag to this particular post, but it is clear that Ellen's
one and only is coming to her defense.
"When did you know that she was the one for you?"
"When I first laid eyes on her."
Portia de Rossi and Ellen wed in an intimate ceremony in August 2008. The celebs announced
that they were tying the knot immediately after California's Supreme Court struck down
Proposition 8. In December 2018, DeGeneres told the New York Times that her wife was
endlessly supportive of her and that she stopped reading the tabloids because they were rarely
accurate. DeGeneres said,
"I hear Portia and I are divorcing every other week or having a baby or whatever."
Portia also weighed in during the Times profile, saying,
"[Ellen is] just a bit more complicated than she appears on the show. There's more range
of emotion."
As the bad press directed against her continued to mount, DeGeneres eventually broke her silence.
In a lengthy memo, DeGeneres addressed the backlash she's received over the alleged mistreatment
of her employees. According to Variety, members of her staff, from lighting to camera operators
to grips, were left in the dark about if and how much they would be paid for weeks.
Sources claimed that when production executives finally did resurface, the crew was told to
brace for a 60% reduction in pay. There have also been anonymous accusations about racism,
intimidation, unjust termination, and an overall environment of toxicity in the workplace from
the top down, accusations underscored by a damning piece published by BuzzFeed in July
2020.
DeGeneres wrote in the memo she issued to her employees on July 30th,
"My name is on the show and everything we do and I take responsibility for that. 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."
It's become clear as DeGeneres transitioned to filming remotely, some members of the team
were left in the dust. She promised in her statement to learn from this experience and
make changes, writing,
"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."
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