NEWSThe Ellen Degeneres Case is Building Up, and Another Surprising Face Emerges
Ellen is under siege. She is facing allegations that her show is a toxic workplace. The highly-paid comedian and show host is battling her own toxicity that has been surprising most of her fans.
"Ellen regrets the first day she ever danced on the show," a source told OK!.
"Unfortunately for her, It exploded and the audience couldn’t get enough of it. Overnight, Ellen became known for her happy dance — but she actually hates dancing.”
Even though DeGeneres, 62, stopped dancing on her show a couple years ago, her audience remains electric and prone to the habit.
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“Ellen told her producers that she wasn’t going to dance anymore and top executives were called in to beg her to reconsider," the show insider told OK!.
"It’s was like negotiating peace in the Middle East. The most powerful people in television had to come to the set for a top secret meeting to convince Ellen to continue to dance. I have never seen anything like it in all my years working in TV.
"Only after Ellen was shown focus groups and charts and evidence, did she agree to keeping in the show, but she wasn’t happy and behind the scene we were all made to suffer!”
As OK! previously reported, claims of outrageous and mean behavior have dogged the show for two weeks and Warner Bros. has been forced to launch an official investigation.
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In a statement, the network said it was “disappointed that the primary findings of the investigation indicated some deficiencies related to the show’s day-to-day management.”
The company said “several staffing changes” were identified in addition to “appropriate measures” that will be made to “address the issues that have been raised.”
In her own statement to staff, DeGeneres said: “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.
“As someone who was judged and nearly lost everything for just being who I am, I truly understand and have deep compassion for those being looked at differently, or treated unfairly, not equal, or – worse – disregarded. To think that any one of you felt that way is awful to me.”
But as OK! reported, the allegations range from the odd to the obscene.
Her colleague, Head Writer and Executive Producer Kevin Leman, is accused of requesting a hand job and oral sex from another staffer in a bathroom during a company party in 2013, BuzzFeed News reported.
Another ex-employee described seeing Leman grab the penis of a production assistant, according to the report.
One insider told OK! DeGeneres can’t stand gum and if someone near her has it in their mouth, “she freaks out.”
Viewers see the host’s cozy home during lockdown broadcasts, but a second source said things are not as warm as they look, particularly for her staff.
“She has no respect for those who literally clean up her mess. She’ll fire you on the spot if you upset her,” that source said.
A third source said the television host has little to no respect for minimum-wage production assistants who are considered totally expendable.
“There’s no compassion. If you can’t handle the job, you’ll be replaced,” said a source.
Things can get so bad, people are walking on eggshells.
“Ellen won’t even make eye contact with employees,” said the snitch. “She refuses to even acknowledge them.”
