Ellen DeGeneres' Apology Too Late? Toxicity Kept Secret Since 2018
Producers of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" reportedly knew all about the toxic culture behind the scenes.
As Buzzfeed News reports, a current and a former staff of the show told them that a complaint was made on gender discrimination, racism, intimidation, and sexism to an unnamed industry union in 2018, which later prompted an investigation Warner Bros, the show's distributor.
These allegations included some crew members getting terminated for taking medical leaves or bereavement leaves to attend family funerals. One former employee confirmed that they returned to work after a suicide attempt to take medical leave, only to be told that they have been fired.
However, a spokesperson for the company confirmed to the publication that an outside investigator looked into the complaint. Still, they found no merit of the claims and went as far as to say that "there is nothing new or noteworthy about this issue."
"As previously stated, we are committed to changing the things that need to change and moving forward constructively and positively."
The 62-year-old's Emmy award-winning show is the subject of an internal investigation recently after Buzzfeed News and Variety published multiple reports accusing top executives of fostering a toxic workplace environment.
With Warner Bros' investigation nearing its end, there have already been changes that started from the top.
Executive producers Kevin Leman, Ed Glavin, and Jonathan Norman were all fired.
However, Ellen DeGeneres' public and private apology, and the current investigation are just a "publicity ploy."
A former employee alleged, "This should've never happened to begin with. It should've never gotten to the point where these people were unchecked and had that kind of power."
"It starts at the top. It starts with Ellen, and it starts with Warner Bros. and the culture they create and their culture."
Early this week, it has already been reported that one of Australia's biggest networks have canceled "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" on their channel.
Behind the scenes, the workplace bullying scandal has played a considerable part on Channel Nine's hands as talks continue between them and Warner Bros TV for the new season's broadcasting rights.
Rob McKnight, a former senior executive at Nine, thinks that the whole Ellen DeGeneres scandal came at the right time during a negotiation period, which gives the network more bargaining power.
According to McKnight, he thinks Nine is willing to walk away from the deal since they're focusing more on primetime rather than noontime.
"Nine are in negotiations and bring the price down, and they're showing Warner Bros that they're willing to walk away."
He added, "With the advertising market shrinking due to the coronavirus recession, the focus is on prime time."
"I'm sure they'd like to keep Ellen, but this whole controversy has come up at the perfect time for them during a negotiation period."
McKnight claims that Nine will be looking into the ratings of "Desperate Housewives," which has replaced "Ellen's" slot, to see if it affects them, just before saying goodbye entirely to Warner Bros TV's deal.
"This is all about getting the best deal for Nine. Controversies come and go, but at the moment, every dollar counts."
