The recent controversy regarding Ellen’s toxic workplace allegations has divided public opinion. Was Ellen’s recent apology letter to staff sincere enough?
By Miette Dsouza
Ellen DeGeneres, comedian and openly gay host of ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’ was placed under investigation by Buzzfeed news after a tweet from Kevin T. Porter, comedian and writer received much attention from the public.
BuzzFeed later published an article on 16 July 2020 filled with ex-employee accounts on how they were mistreated by executive producers. Employees wanted to remain anonymous as they were afraid of getting blacklisted in the industry. From the slew of negative experiences, it became clear that Ellen DeGeneres show motto “Be kind” was just a facade.
The article brought several other issues like microaggressions towards people of color, racism, intimidation and sexual misconduct, into the lime light. The show had also been placed under investigation by Warner Media.
An ex-employee told Buzzfeed news: “I feel angry about the way I was treated, and I am always going to stand up for Black, Indigenous, Latino, and Asian people, regardless if they’re around,” she added: “I can’t not say anything. I’m not going to stop talking.”
While some people needed no more evidence to effectively “cancel” Ellen…
The remainder believed that she was innocent….
#StandByEllen was started when Ellen’s wife Portia de Rossi broke her silence on the issue in an Instagram post on 3 August 2020.
Even though Ellen herself was not accused of committing the acts, she issued a letter to staff apologizing for the toxic work environment saying: “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, obviously something changed and for that, I am sorry.”. However, that too was met with harsh criticism:
While it has been all serious on the #cancelellen front the #ReplaceEllen trend has begun on Twitter. When rumors of James Corden taking over the Ellen Show started circulating on Twitter, people started suggested their own idols for the job instead like Ellen Page and Dakota Johnson.
Who would you want hosting the Ellen show?