Ellen DeGeneres may be ready to say goodbye to her talk show as an investigation into toxic workplace claims is under way.
According to a new report, DeGeneres, 62, has been in talks with top executives from Warner Bros. and Telepictures, the company that produces the show, to let them know she is considering pulling the plug entirely.
“She feels she can’t go on and the only way to recover her personal brand from this is to shut down the show,” an insider at Telepictures revealed to Daily Mail.
DeGeneres broke her silence Thursday to address the recent bashing of the behind-the-scenes culture at “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” in a memo to staff.
DeGeneres apologized and insisted that the culture as it has been reported “will now change,” vowing that she’s “committed to ensuring this does not happen again.”
While the host hinted at not having full knowledge of the alleged bullying off-camera, the Telepictures source claimed she “knew what was going on.”
“It’s her show,” the insider continued. “The buck stops with her. She can blame every executive under the sun — but Ellen is ultimately the one to blame.”
Allegations first came to the surface in April, as unnamed members of the production team claimed they were left uninformed as to the status of their pay or employment amid the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic. Additionally, accounts of “cold” behavior from the 62-year-old comedian herself, including from her former bodyguard, began to pile up.
The show took another hit this week when Buzzfeed published a report based on interviews with 36 members of staff. Several voiced allegations of sexual misconduct from top producers Ed Glavin, Kevin Leman and Jonathan Norman.
(SD-Agencies)
