EXCLUSIVEEllen DeGeneres' Ratings Bounce Back Up By 50 Percent — And Staffers Are Seething!
Oct. 9 2020, Updated 4:20 p.m. ET
Most TV staffers would be popping champagne if their show got a 50 percent increase in ratings, but not Ellen DeGeneres’ team. Instead, the talk show’s staffers fear their boss has not only gotten away with everything, but is also being rewarded for her bad behavior.
After a solid debut (the premiere saw its highest ratings since 2016), numbers for the show fell 38 percent in late September. But, according to recent reports, The Ellen DeGeneres Show was back up in its second week — and an OK! source reveals that her mistreated staff members are seething over her success.
"So, basically Ellen’s set has been exposed as one of the most toxic places to work, and her ratings have increased by a massive 50 percent in total viewers. Life isn’t fair, and the bad people always win. The clear message this is sending Ellen and all the other terrible hosts on TV is treat your staff like s**t and you will be rewarded," a source exclusively tells OK!.
"All that kind behavior lasted at the most one week. Now, the old mean girl stuff is starting to seep back in. Before long the show will be run in the same way it always was. It was naïve to think a 62-year-old, multi-millionaire was suddenly going to change and evolve," the insider adds. "Being awful has given Ellen an amazing life. Now that she sees there are no consequences for the way she has treated others, she’s going to be emboldened."
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DeGeneres' show got a huge bounce in its second week with over 1.2 million watching, ranking third behind Dr. Phil and Live with Kelly and Ryan.
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It's no surprise that the Finding Dory star is going back to her old ways since OK! exclusively reported in September that she was already getting fed up with her new attitude.
"Ellen is in a lose-lose situation. She is finding herself having to grin like the Cheshire Cat, or else people will say the old, mean Ellen has returned. You can tell being this nice is already getting annoying. Ellen technically is the boss of over 250 staff — now each and every one of them think they can walk into her office with any complaint," a source exclusively told OK!.
Ultimately, the former actress “wants to create a great work environment but that doesn’t mean feelings won’t get hurt when ideas and pitches are possibly rejected for better ones." DeGeneres is "terrified that the next time she says ‘no,’ staff will go running to the press," the source dished.
After former staffers came forward and claimed that the set was a horrible place to work over the summer, DeGeneres addressed the elephant in the room when she returned from her hiatus in September.
"We’ve had a lot of conservations over the last few weeks about the show, our workplace and what we want for the future. We have made the necessary changes and today, we’re starting a new chapter," she said.
