After serious reports that Ellen DeGeneres would be canceling her talk show in response to workplace abuse allegations, the comedienne reportedly met with her staff to smooth things over in an effort to forge a better future.
According to Us Weekly, producers for “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” held a conference call on Monday with the staff to address the media reports and to announce an internal investigation into the show’s alleged toxic work environment.
“They said a lot of [the claims are] true and a lot of it is not true,” a source told the outlet. “They said we are handling everything [and] things will be very different now. … A show that brings so much happiness and fun, it should be a happy show to work on.”
Ultimately, the show will go on. As the meeting unfolded, some employees reportedly voiced their concerns and even called out some producers for “stuff that happened in the past.”
“The producers ultimately said you all still have a job here and you will all get paid, however that may be,” the source said. “They said Ellen is not giving up and the show will go on. … That woman brings so much joy to people that it would break a lot of hearts to stop doing this show. It was a pep talk and made some staffers feel better.”
Last week, Ellen’s head writer as well as two of her executive producers were accused of sexual misconduct. Shortly thereafter, a source with Telepictures, which produces Ellen’s show, said that the host had entered talks to cancel her show, asserting that she bears the brunt of the blame for the toxic work environment.
“She feels she can’t go on and the only way to recover her personal brand from this is to shut down the show,” the insider said. “The truth is she knew what was going on, it’s her show. The buck stops with her. She can blame every executive under the sun – but Ellen is ultimately the one to blame.”
“Inside Telepictures we’ve had enough of her. She is a phony who does not practice what she preaches,” the source continued. “The behavior of her show executives has been appalling, but [Ellen] is no better. In fact, she is the worst. It’s outrageous that she is trying to pretend that this is all a shock to her. The fish rots from the head, and Ellen is the head.”
In an apology last week, Ellen, however, claimed that she delegated tasks to her top leadership and knew nothing about the toxic work environment.
“On day one of our show, I told everyone in our first meeting that ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’ would be a place of happiness – no one would ever raise their voice, and everyone would be treated with respect,” she said. “Obviously, something changed, and I am disappointed to learn that this has not been the case. And for that, I am sorry. Anyone who knows me knows it’s the opposite of what I believe and what I hoped for our show.”
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