What’s up?
It’s Sussan Mourad here with Clevver News and current and former employees of The Ellen
DeGeneres Show just spoke out about the “toxic work culture” behind the scenes at the show
in a new tell all article.
As many of you know by now, Ellen has been making headlines this year after some celebrities
have called her out, staff members have spoken up, and people online have revealed their
experiences with her alleged unfriendliness.
And some people see this as ironic because Ellen DeGeneres has built her multimillion-dollar
brand on the motto “be kind to one another.”
“And here are the values that I stand for I stand for honesty, equality, kindness, compassion,
treating people the way you want to be treated, and helping those in need.
To me those are traditional values that’s what I stand for.”
And BuzzFeed just released a new tell all article where one current employee and 10
former employees of The Ellen DeGeneres Show reveal the alleged toxic work culture on set.
These employees said that while on camera everything seems to be about happiness and
kindness, behind the scenes they faced racism, fear, and intimidation.
One former employee told BuzzFeed that quote, “That ‘be kind’ bullsh*t only happens
when the cameras are on.
It’s all for show.
I know they give money to people and help them out, but it’s for show.”
And while these employees chose to remain anonymous for their safety and privacy, the
claims they are making against Ellen and her show are serious.
A couple employees said they were fired after taking medical leave or bereavement days to
attend family funerals.
Another employee claims she was fed up with comments about her race and essentially walked
off the job.
While others said they were instructed by their managers to not speak to Ellen if they
saw her around the office.
One former Black employee gave specific details about her experiences with racism on set.
She said that she experienced racist comments, actions, and “microaggressions” during
her year and a half working on the show.
The employee said upon her hiring, a senior-level producer spoke to her and another Black employee
saying quote, “Oh wow, you both have box braids; I hope we don’t get you confused.”
She also said that one of the main writers told her, QUOTE: “I’m sorry, I only know
the names of the white people who work here,” and other co-workers “awkwardly laughed
it off” instead of coming to her defense.
And when she brought up issues of race and representation on the show and asked producers
not to use offensive terms like “spirit animal” in segments, her colleagues allegedly
called her “the PC police.”
This employee said that as she started to speak up about the discrimination all of her
colleagues distanced themselves from her.
She said quote, “Whenever I brought up an issue to my white male boss, he would bring
up some random story about some random Black friend that he had and how they managed to
get over stuff.
He would use his Black friend as some way to say, ‘I understand your struggle.’
But it was all performative bullsh*t.”
Interestingly enough, most former employees blamed the executive producers and managers
for the day-to-day toxicity.
An employee said quote, “People focus on rumors about how Ellen is mean and everything
like that, but that’s not the problem.
The issue is these three executive producers running the show who are in charge of all
these people [and] who make the culture and are putting out this feeling of bullying and
being mean.
They 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.’”
But another employee said that in the end of the day, it’s Ellen’s name on the show
and “she really needs to take more responsibility” for the workplace toxicity.
This employee said quote, “If she wants to have her own show and have her name on
the show title, she needs to be more involved to see what's going on.
I think the executive producers surround her and tell her, ‘Things are going great, everybody's
happy,’ and she just believes that, but it's her responsibility to go beyond that.”
And BuzzFeed didn’t only speak with these former and current employees, they also got
a statement from the show’s executive producers and they said that they take the stories of
the employees "very seriously."
Their statement said quote, “Over the course of nearly two decades, 3,000 episodes, and
employing over 1000 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 realize, as many in the world are learning,
that we need to do better, are committed to do better, and we will do better."
And a current employee told BuzzFeed News that as the negative stories about Ellen and
the show have been coming out, executive producers held an all-staff meeting over Zoom to address
the negative stories and low morale.
They said quote, “I think it is a lot of smoke and mirrors when it comes to the show’s
brand.
They pull on people’s heartstrings; they do know that’s going to get likes and what
people are going to go for, which is a positive message.
But that’s not always reality.”
Another person added “That’s the definition of a toxic work environment, where they make
you feel like you’re going insane and then you’re like, no, everything I was feeling
was right.
It was all leading up to this.”
And fans have mixed feelings about this new BuzzFeed article.
Some people are taking the side of the former employees like this person who wrote quote,
“I believe it”
This fan who said quote, “Sounds like @TheEllenShow is Out of Touch with her own show and needs
to clean house”
And this Twitter user who added quote, “not shocked someone else is coming forward.
this isn’t the first time i am hearing this.
this show seems toxic behind the scenes and i don’t believe the statement the show put
out.
but we have bigger things to deal with than this”
But others are wondering how much of this is true and wonder if Ellen is the problem
or if it’s the other higher level management.
This fan wrote quote , “Don’tcha ever wonder how much truth, if any, there is when
people make such claims…
We’ll never know the truth unless there are videos or recordings because the employees
will say she did it and she will say she didn’t so who to believe?”
Another person wrote quote, “I get Ellen has had some moments, as has everyone in their
life.
But if you READ the article, many of the claims say Ellen is not the problem.
It is the 3 executive producers that are causing the toxic workplace.
They are in control of the show.
Ellen is the face.”
And this person just chimed in saying “Sounds to me like a bunch of disgruntled employees
who wanted to be running things and doing what they wanted instead of working for the
show.
They seem to be the ones creating the toxic work environment.”
Asset: screenshot
So clearly there are mixed feelings about this new article and Ellen still hasn’t
spoken out about any of this herself.
Her staff has made statements, but it seems like the fans who are wondering if all these
rumors about her are true want to hear from Ellen herself.
We will obviously keep you guys posted if Ellen does say anything about all of this.
And if you want more on Ellen and feel like diving down the deep hole of conspiracy theories,
click right over here for another Clevver News video.
Let us know down in the comments what you think about all this and if you think Ellen
will ever speak out on all these rumors.
I’m your host Sussan Mourad, bye guys!