It is looking increasingly likely that the Ellen Degeneres’ show could be cancelled amidst the bitter ongoing toxicity Scandal.
But the comedienne turned award winning talk show host has been mounting a desperate campaign to save her show including giving new employment perks to staffers to lessen their misery.
Nevertheless, some networks are already pulling her broadcasts with no concrete plans to resume airing them even though WB’s internal investigation into the show’s reportedly toxic atmosphere is ongoing
Australia’s Channel Nine network is no longer airing The Ellen DeGeneres Show. But Channel Nine confirmed this week that viewers will no longer see Ellen’s talkshow as part of their lineup.
The Ellen DeGeneres Show has been airing in Australia on Channel Nine since 2013
On August 24, repeate episodes were removed from the episode lineup.
Allegations on the set include racism, bullying, and sexual misconduct, and Channel Nine says that they are taking that seriously.
“We are resting Ellen repeats on Nine,” a network spokesperson confirmed “and have replaced with Desperate Housewives.”
That is a wild programming choice — a scripted drama with no conceptual overlap with a daytime talk show.
However, repeats of Ellen’s show will continue to air on the network’s digital sister channel, 9Gem.
Programming director Hamish Turner isn’t promising that viewers will ever again see Ellen on their network, even after hiatus.
“Do we have rights beyond this year? The answer to that is no,” Turner reportedly said.
“We’ll wait to hear from Warner Brothers as to the results of their internal inquiry,” Turner added.
Turner explained waiting and seeing “because at the moment, they haven’t even come forward with what the show is, or when it might go back into production.”
“We’re waiting to see what the U.S. are doing,” Turner stated, “and then obviously we’ll need to negotiate rates.”
“There’s a lot to go under the bridge before we even get to that stage,” Turner emphasized. “We haven’t got a clear picture yet.”
Wave after wave of both current and former employees of Ellen’s show have come forward.
They have described toxic behavior from leadership on the show, characterizing the vibe on set as a “culture of fear.”
Many of the people discussing this are seasoned professionals who know the difference between a high-pressure television job and what they experienced working under Ellen. Over the summer, three high-level producers were fired amidst claims of sexual misconduct.
But kicking Ed Glavin, Jonathan Norman, and Kevin Leman to the curb only addresses part of the reported problems.
Employees have described a work culture where producers might be yelled at, humiliated, or fired if they asked to be treated like human beings.
Ellen has attempted to reassure employees that things will get better.
The show is implementing changes and has recently given employees new “perks” — benefits common to some jobs but unusual for TV crew members.
However, some employees are unmoved, because they believe that part of the problem since the show’s inception has been Ellen herself.
Ellen has a reputation among members of the service industry for being, well, a terror — if you catch her in the wrong mood.
Some servers describe encounters where Ellen tried to get them suspended or fired for perceived flaws, like chipped nail polish. Others describe her as charming and funny.
Sometimes, those servers are one and the same — marveling at how differently she behaved between encounters.
It is entirely possible that, at the end of this investigation into Ellen’s show, she will go on.
She will likely air a very special episode on the subject or at least a segment to discuss the changes made.
It is our hope that it is not all talk, and that there will be real changes on every level to ensure that no one’s mental or emotional health suffers over how they are treated at work.
As previously reported, Ellen DeGeneres has already talked to her staffers about how much she sucks.
According to various outlets, the much-maligned comedian has even improved the conditions at work, offering these same staffers some very obvious perks that we can’t believe they didn’t have before.
But what about the public?
Will DeGeneres ever talk directly to her fans and address the many awful allegations that have recently been leveled against her and many of her top producers?
By now, you must be aware that numerous ex-employees have accused executives at The Ellen DeGeneres of microaggressions, sexism and racism.
An internal investigation is therefore underway, with the program’s production company looking into these very troubling claims and with talk of cancelation surrounding the once-popular series.
Ellen has thus far remained mum on the controversies, at least when it comes to her viewers.
Expect this to change, however.
The 62-year-old host was seen departing a restaurant in the Southern California over the weekend and was asked by The Daily Mail how the firing of a trio of producers would affect the show going forward.
“I will be talking to my fans,” she replied simply.
That’s all we can report on this topic right now.
Last Monday, though, Warner Bros. Television announced that three senior producers had been fired from Ellen’s show:
Ed Glavin, one of the executive producers, Jonathan Norman, a co-executive producer, and Kevin Leman, the show’s head writer.
Around this same time, Ellen reporedly held a video conference with her staffers in which she annoyingly said she “wasn’t perfect,”
“I’m a multi-layered person, and I try to be the best person I can be and I try to learn from my mistakes,” the host told her crew, adding on this call:
“I’m hearing that some people felt that I wasn’t kind or too short with them, or too impatient. I apologize to anybody if I’ve hurt your feelings in any way.”
As she has often done throughout this scandal, DeGeneres didn’t sound overly remorsely, at least not based on these quotes.
She doesn’t sound as if she’s taking responsibility, either, instead qualifying her mea culpa and almost victim-blaming by saying she heard that people “felt” a certain way — not acknowledging that she ACTED in a certain way.
Ellen is under contract to continue hosting The Ellen DeGeneres Show for Warner Bros. Television through 2022.
She recently signed a new deal to develop three shows for WarnerMedia’s new streaming platform HBO Max.
The star is desperately trying to save her show and her reputation, but the latter remains in tatters.
The Ellen DeGeneres Show has actually been pulled from Australian TV following all these allegations of a toxic workplace environment.
It had been airing in that country on Channel Nine since 2013.
Still, though, as of this writing, the program is set to kick off Season 18 in just a few weeks. With Ellen remaining at the helm.
Ellen DeGeneres was a great host of the Oscars and an often funny woman. She entertains us. She was one of the very first stars to come…