NEWSRyan Phillippe Throws Not-So-Subtle Shade At Ellen DeGeneres
No beating around the bush! When Ryan Phillippe took a jog over the weekend, he multitasked and found a way to make a pointed statement towards talk show host Ellen DeGeneres while getting in a little cardio.
The 46-year-old actor posted to his Instagram stories a sweaty selfie that he took in front of an Ellen DeGeneres Show poster...wait for it...he captioned the shot, "And remember to be kind... Wait."
Phillippe's wry commentary is no doubt in response to a free-falling decline in DeGeneres' show's viewership, which is being attributed to ex-staffers' claims suggesting that the show promotes a culture of bullying and harassment. In July, BuzzFeed News. published a report in which current and former employees opened up about their experience on the Ellen set, where they detailed allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct, intimidation, racism and much more.
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WarnerMedia immediately took action and conducted an internal investigation, which concluded in firing three senior executive producers: Ed Gavin, Kevin Leman, and Jonathan Norman.
Phillippe himself has not been on the talk show in years, with his last appearance in 2011, although his ex Reese Witherspoon has been a frequent guest. However, chatter about the other face of the publicly sunny TV host has infiltrated public sentiment at this point in time, so it is probably not too surprising that he decided to make a joke at DeGeneres' expense.
DeGeneres herself was forced to respond to the claims of being the evil face behind a smiling curtain that has been dogging her for months now: “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," she insisted. "Obviously, something changed, and I am disappointed to learn that this has not been the case. And for that, I am sorry. Anyone who knows me knows it’s the opposite of what I believe and what I hoped for our show.”
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The public apology seemed to work: 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 this month, The Ellen DeGeneres Show was back up in its second week. She has also had her share of public faces who were quick to defend her in the face of numerous negative reports.
