NEWSRough Landing: Ellen DeGeneres Had Trouble Getting A-List Guests After Mean Streak Was Revealed
May 16 2022, Published 4:52 p.m. ET
Ellen DeGeneres' long running talk show is coming to a timely end.
The scandal-plagued The Ellen DeGeneres Show will air its final episode after a 19-season run on Thursday, May 26, which seems to be perfect timing after sources revealed the toxic behind-the-scenes atmosphere has become too much for staffers and guests alike.
"Morale was extremely low — if not at rock bottom — by the end of her run, " an insider told the print issue of Star magazine. "It was hard to get A-list guests, and even filling the audience was a struggle."
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"This wasn't a send-off for the ages," one source noted of the show, which took a hit in 2020 after the comedian was plagued with allegations of fostering a toxic work environment that included racism, intimidation and fear tactics. "There were a lot of A-listers who were acutely aware Ellen was damaged goods and it was not a good look to be supporting her on the show."
DeGeneres' public fall from grace took a severe toll on her, with a source claiming the talk show host was "drinking like a fish," during the height of the scandal. "She was self medicating and trying to numb the pain."
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After spending years promoting her "be kind to each other" motto, allegations of the media mogul being less than kind to her staff came as a shock. The staff has had such a cold relationship with DeGeneres that she wasn't even invited to the show's wrap party.
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"There's no way they'd invite her," the insider said of the reported send-off festivities. "It was about saying goodbye to each other in a relaxed setting, clinking a few glasses and consoling one another for the hell they all went through."
"They say that whatever life throws at them will be a thousand times easier than walking on eggshells around a tyrannical boss," the source added.
While DeGeneres issued an apology to her audience in September 2020 following her cancellation — she admitted at the time, "Things happened here that never should have happened" — her image has yet to do a 180.
"The bottom line was nobody really wanted to be associated with her, and those who gave her a pass did so because they had projects to promote," the source concluded.
